http://konan.3dn.ru/Aziya/urartu03.gif, http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urartu
Urartian signs http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/intro.htm
Inscription of Sarduri, son of Lutipri, the great king, the mighty king, the king of the universe, the king of the country of Nairi, the king who has no equal, the amazing shepherd, not afraid2) of battle, the king who subdues the rebellious. (I), Sarduri, son of Lutipri, king of kings, who received tribute from all kings. This is what Sarduri, the son of Lutipri, says: I brought these stones3) from the city of Alniuna (and) erected this wall (near Lake Van). 9th century BC
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/001.htm
Rusa - kings of Urartu
Of course, in cuneiform.
URARTIAN LANGUAGE belongs to the Hurrian-Urartian group of languages, related to the East Caucasian ones. It was distributed on the territory of the state of Urartu (from west to east - from Lake Van to Lake Urmia, from north to south - from the Ararat Valley to northern Iraq). Survived approx. 600 inscriptions written in Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, as well as several dozen inscriptions (very brief) written in the original Urartian hieroglyphic script (not yet deciphered) and Luwian hieroglyphs. The inscriptions of the first kings (Sarduri I) were written in Assyrian; after King Ishpuini (c. 830 BC) until the defeat of Urartu under Sarduri IV (c. 600 BC) they wrote only in Urartian. The main characteristics of the Urartian language: an agglutinative language of ergative structure (see LINGUISTIC TYPOLOGY), without prefixation, with a developed case system (approx. 15 cases); the verb has aspectual and tense forms (perfect and imperfect), two types of conjugation - transitive-ergative and intransitive-absolute. Lexically close to the Hurrian language (it is related to the peoples of the North Caucasus, Chechens and Ingush).
Dyakonov I.M., Starostin S.A. Hurrito-Urartian and East Caucasian languages. - In the book: Ancient East. M., 1988
Experts are bringing us together. Our job is to take it into account.
If the experts are right, then the Urartian inscriptions are traces of writing in the ancient languages of the peoples of Russia. How else?!
What do the Russians have to do with it?! Let's try to figure it out.
The subsequent kings of Urartu also left their writings in the spirit of the Sarduri inscriptions.
And the king of the Cimmerians who appeared in these parts to the south in the 7th century BC. also did not hesitate to be called “king of the universe” (657. I.N. Medvedskaya. About the Scythian invasion of Palestine http://annals.xlegio.ru/blacksea/skif_pal.htm), like the kings of the Bosporus later. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporus
Since Russian chronicles point to “the Narts are the essence of the Slovenes” since the time of the Tower of Babel, all sorts of consonances not far from Babylon stop the eye. The roots of ononyms are often Indo-European, and we should not forget - according to the ancient Romans - the Assyrian king Nin ended the 1500-year rule of the Scythians in Europe and Asia. In response, the squads of Plin and Skolopita, Sagila and Panasagora appear in the Southern Black Sea region. Pharaoh Senusret carries out an action against Scythia. And a century later, Egypt attacked the Hygsos of King Kian (Kian) from the north, founding my capital Avaris (consonant with the northern sage Abaris) at the lower reaches of the Nile. Whether Nairi was or was not one of the northerners’ strongholds, who can prove it now? But why, if the place has long been mastered by the subjects of the “king of the universe,” should they carry stones for the construction of obviously new fortresses. Everything should have been prepared long ago.
Ishpuni, son of Sarduri, boasts of new construction.
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/004.htm
And he built this house. And this one. And a fortress. And before him, nothing so (?) majestic (?) was erected (here).3)
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/017.htm
Then came sacrifices to the god Khaldi of thousands of heads of livestock - bulls, sheep, goats.
Obviously, God himself did not eat everything. The inhabitants of Urartu and their troops received a lot from sacrifices.
It is assumed that the Urartian Khaldi (Aldi) in Hurrian mythology - dating back to 3 thousand BC. - Halalu (Alalu). And during the rituals, “let the kid be slaughtered to the god Khaldi, the sheep to the god Teisheb, the sheep to the god Shivini.”
http://www.vaymohk.com/index.php?name=pages&op=view&id=59
The Chechens and Ingush are recognized as distant descendants of the Hurrians.
http://forum.souz.co.il/viewtopic.php?t=80977
http://kitap.net.ru/gallyamov/flexkch.html, etc.
Most likely, the Hurrians were multi-ethnic immigrants from the region of the North Caucasus, but the language of interethnic communication was precisely Hurrian.
Next, the “kings of kings” fight with their neighbors and assert their power in a large area.
The cities of Urartu are filled with blunt Scythian arrows - they were at one time considered money. http://www.museum.com.ua/expo/premonet_ru.html
Menua, already without his father, noted a lot of interesting inscriptions.
Then his son Argishti I, and later Sarduri II
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/index.htm
But Sarduri P’s son was already called Rusa. But Wikipedia remained silent about him.
True, I haven’t forgotten Rusa II http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusa_II
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia Rus II
9th King of Urartu
685 BC e. - 639 BC e.
Predecessor: Argishti II
Successor: Sarduri III
Death: 639 BC e.
Father: Argishti II
Children: Sarduri III
Rusa II (Rusa, son of Argishti) - king of the state of Urartu, reign ca. 685-639 BC e.
Urartu during the reign of Rusa II
Rusa II, the son of Argishti II, ruled the state of Urartu during the period of its decline (and others admit - the pinnacle of achievements). Major defeats from Assyria in previous years, the loss of Musasir and the western regions greatly weakened Urartu. Rusa II's father, Argishti II, after the tragic failures of his father, Rusa I, was forced to cede part of the Urartian territories to Assyria and, possibly, pay taxes. In addition, there remained the danger of attacks by the Scythians and Cimmerians from the northeast of Urartu, in Transcaucasia.
However, four years after Rusa II ascended the throne, in 681 BC. e., the situation in Urartu improved. A new round of civil war in Assyria sharply weakened this country. Media, which during this period was part of Assyria, sharply intensified the struggle for independence. In 680 BC. e. The ruler of Assyria, Sennacherib, was killed, and his killers fled to the Shupria region in Urartu. A record of this event was preserved by Moses of Horen, in the Assyrian archives and in the Bible (in the Fourth Book of Kings and in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah):
“... Sennacherib, king of Assyria, returned and lived in Nineveh. And while he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adramelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword, and they themselves fled to the land of Ararat. And Asardan his son reigned in his stead.”
These events diverted Assyria's attention from the increasingly weakening Urartu and left Ruse II the opportunity to try to restore Urartu to its former glory. Rusa II directed his efforts to revive the religious power of the main Urartian god Khaldi, building a new cult city of this deity in the center of Urartu on the northern shore of Lake Van. (The former religious center of the Khaldi god, Musasir, was destroyed by the Assyrian king Sargon II in 714 BC). In addition, Rusa II made several military campaigns to the west, capturing a large number of prisoners, whom he used within the country to build many fortresses and monumental structures.
A tablet from the time of Rusa II about the founding of the city of the god Khaldi
Discovered at the end of the 19th century on a stone in the village of Adyldzhevaz (northwestern coast of Lake Van). The inscription is poorly preserved. Translation of the inscription: ... the city of the god Khaldi of the country Ziukuni Rusa, the son of Argishti, built; Rusa, son of Argishti, says: I drove away women from the enemy country... the people of the countries of Mushkini, Khatya, Halita... this fortress, as well as the cities that surround this fortress... I annexed to this fortress. ... Rusa, son of Argishti, says: God Khaldi gave me... For the god Khaldi I performed these mighty deeds. By the greatness of the god Khaldi Rusa, the son of Argishti, the mighty king, the great king, the king of the country of Bianili, the king of countries, the ruler of Tushpa-city.
Rusa II built the large cities of Bastam, Ayanis, Teishebaini and others. Many of the buildings were of a temple and ceremonial nature, but Teishebaini was clearly built for additional protection against Cimmerian raids.
An inscription from the time of Rusa II, telling about the construction of the temple of the god Khaldi in Teishebaini
Discovered in 1961 during archaeological excavations on Karmir-Blur.
A fragment of the translation of the inscription: To the god Khaldi, his ruler, this temple was built by Rusa, the son of Argishti, as well as the gates of the god Khaldi, the majestic cities of Teishebaini... he erected and dedicated to the god Khaldi.
Piotrovsky B.B. Kingdom of Van (Urartu) / Orbeli I.A. - Moscow: Eastern Literature Publishing House, 1959. - 286 p. - 3500 copies.
Melikishvili G.A. Urartian wedge-shaped inscriptions. - Moscow: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1960.
Zimansky P. Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State. - Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1985. - (Studies in ancient oriental civilizations). -Harutyunyan N.V. Biaynili - Urartu. Military-political history and issues of toponymy.. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2006. - 368 p. - 1000 copies.
; Movses Khorenatsi History of Armenia, Hayastan, Yerevan, 1990 ISBN 5-540-01084-1 (Electronic version)
; Translation by G. A. Melikishvili from the book: Melikishvili G. A. Urartian wedge-shaped inscriptions, Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1960
; Translation by N.V. Harutyunyan from the book: Harutyunyan N.V. New Urartian inscriptions, Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, Yerevan, 1966
But let’s return to the cuneiform writing of the kings of Rus
http://annals.xlegio.ru/i_urart.htm
The next king of Urartu, Rusa I (735-713 BC), decided to win against Assyria by cunning where it was no longer possible to win by force. Having diverted the Assyrian troops to the area of Lake Urmia, Rusa I tried to get behind their rear. But Sargon II was an experienced warrior and did not fall into the trap. The defeat of the Urartians was complete. Rusa fled to Tushpa and committed suicide.
Inscriptions of Rus I, son of Sarduri. No. 264.
The inscription on the stele located at a distance of 1.5 km from the villages. Topuzava, on the way to the village. Sidikan (in the mountains southwest of Lake Urmia, at the pass of the road leading from the city of Revanduz to Ushna - on the usual Scythian routes to the south). The inscription is bilingual: on the eastern wide side of the stone (32 lines) and on the southern side (6 lines) there is text in the Urartian language, and on the western wide side (29 lines) and on the northern side (8 lines) the same text is placed in Assyrian language. So that the eternal rivals of Scythia also know about the achievements of Urartu.
The inscription is badly damaged. Until recently, it was published only partially (Urartian text: art. 9-32, Assyrian text: art. 10-29): S. F. Lehmann-(Haupt), Bericht, No. 128, pp. 631-632 (T, P); VBAG, 1900, pp. 434-435 (T, P); ZDMG, 58, 1904, pp. 834 ff. (A); Sayce, JRAS, 1906, pp. 625, seq. (T, P); Sandaljyan, “Handes Amsorea” (in Armenian), 1913, stb. 395-402 (T, P). The inscription was published entirely based on the photograph of the print by M. Tseretheli (RA, vol. XLIV, 1950, no. 4, pp. 185-192; volume XLV, 1951, no. 1, pp. 3-20; no. 4, pp. 195-208) . The publication by M. Tsereteli contains a photograph of the print of the Urartian bilingual text, as well as an autograph, transcription and translation of the entire inscription with comments. Below G.A. Melikishvili adheres to the transcription of the inscription mainly according to the publication of M. Tsereteli. All restorations not specifically noted in the notes are his.
Rusa, the son of Sarduri, says (this): 19) Urzana, king of the city of Ardini (Musasir), appeared 20) before me. I took upon myself the care of feeding his entire army. 21) Because of this mercy to the gods, at the behest of the god Khaldi, I erected chapels 22) on the high road, for the welfare of (king) Rus 23) I made Urzan the ruler of the region, I planted (him) in the city Ardini (Musasir).
In the same year, I19, Rusa, son of Sarduri, came to the city of Ardini (Musasir). Urzana placed me on the high throne of his ancestors - the kings... Urzana performed sacrifices before the gods in the temple of the gods. At that time, I built a temple for the god Haldi, the lord, the dwelling of his deity, in the gate.
Urzana provided24) (me) with auxiliary troops...,25) war chariots, which (only) he had; I led26) auxiliary troops (and) at the behest of the god Khaldi I19, Rus, went to the mountains of Assyria. I carried out a massacre (there).27) Following this28) I took Urzan by the hand,29) I took care of him...,30) I placed him31) in his place as ruler, for reign.32) The people in the city of Ardini ( Musasir) was present (at the same time); 33) I gave the entire donations I made to the city of Ardini (Musasir); I organized a holiday (?)34) for the residents of the city of Ardini (Musasir). Then35) I returned to my19 country.36)
I19, Rusa, servant of the god Khaldi, faithful shepherd of the people, with the power of Khaldi (and) the strength of (my) army, was not afraid of battle. God Khaldi gave me strength, power, joy throughout my entire life. 37) I ruled the country of Biainili, oppressed the enemy country. The gods have given me long38) days of joy (and) besides joyful days...39)
Following this...40) peace was restored.
Whoever (this inscription) destroys, whoever (it) breaks, (who) does such 41) (deeds), let the 42) gods Khaldi, Teisheba, Shivini, (all) the gods destroy his seed (and) his name.
Notes in publication.
In particular.
23) “For the welfare of (Tsar) Rus.” In Assyrian literally: “for the life of Rus”; in Urartian it is simple: “for (because of) Rus.”
24) Literally “gave.”
25) M. Tsereteli translates the word isi that we omitted (which, in his opinion, corresponds to the one he restored in the Assyrian text) as “everyone”, “of every kind”; he believes that this definition refers to the troops provided by King Urzan to King Rus.
26) So according to the Urartian text. In Assyrian literally: “I took.”
27) This is the meaning of the Assyrian expression: diktu aduk. In the Urartian text this corresponds to ereli za;gubi “I killed ereli.” ereli in Urartian means “king”, but since there is no trace of the word “king” in the Assyrian text, one might think that it is not ereli “king”, but another word - eri/e in the plural. This is exactly how M. Tsereteli understands this word, who attributes to it the meaning “warriors”. However, the possibility cannot be excluded that this word had a completely different meaning, for example, “many”, etc.
28) In the Urartian text: inukani edini - “after this”, “following this”.
29) “I took Urzan by the hand” - according to the Assyrian text. According to M. Tsereteli, this corresponds in the Urartian text: Urzanani ... parubi didulini (st. 18-19; see above, note 6); M. Tsereteli believes that the Urartian word diduli means “hand”.
30) “I took care of him” (Urartian - ;aldubi corresponds to Assyrian alti’i;u). M. Tsereteli translates this place in the Urartian text - “J"eus soin de sa vie" (verse 20: i "a-al-du-bi), in Assyrian - "J"ai eu soin de sa vie" ( Verse 19: al-ti-"i-;;).
31) M. Tsereteli considers the Urartian word manini to correspond to b;li in the Assyrian text; He gives the word mani the meaning of “lordly.” Most likely, however, b;lu in the Assyrian text has no correspondence in Urartian.
32) “In his place, rulers, for reign” - according to the Assyrian text. The Urartian text says instead: “to the royal place.”
33) “The people in the city of Ardini were present (at this)” - according to the Urartian text; literally it says: “there were (people)” (manuli). The Assyrian text says instead: “I fed the people of Musasir.” M. Tsereteli believes that manuri (as he reads instead of manuli) in the Urartian text (verse 21) corresponds in the Assyrian (verse 20) to the word a-t;-pur-ma, which means: “I fed”, “I supplied” , “I contained.” Based on this correspondence, M. Tsereteli raises the question of the meaning of Urartian forms in -uri, etc. But M. Tsereteli’s reading - manuri- raises serious doubts. Most likely, it should be assumed that the Assyrian and Urartian texts diverge in this place. Not only the grammatical form in the case of correspondence between manuli (in M. Tsereteli: manuri) and at;purma raises doubts, but also the meaning of these words (Urartian manu undoubtedly has the meaning “to be”, “to exist”, while Assyrian the word ep;ru means “to contain”, “to supply”, “to feed”, etc.). L;UK;-ME; URUar-di-ni ma-nu-ri in the Urartian text (verse 21) M. Tsereteli translates: “Je nourris les habitants (de la ville) d"Ardini”, a am;ln;;;ME; ina lib- bi;l mu-;a-;ir a-t;-pur-ma in the Assyrian text (verse 20) he translates: “Les habitants dans (la ville de) Mu;a;ir je nourris.”
34) This meaning, as M. Tsereteli suggests, had the Urartian word asuni; in accordance with this, in the Assyrian text he restores: (v. 22).
35) Literally: “on (that) day.”
36) In the Assyrian text literally: “entered” (er;bu), in the Urartian: “I went to (my) country.”
37) In the Assyrian text literally: “in (the continuation of) years” (implied, in all likelihood: “my life”), in the Urartian: “in the unity (in total) of years” (also, probably, “my life”) .
38) In the Urartian text literally: “strong” (za;ili), in Assyrian - “mighty” (dannuti).
39) M. Tsereteli in the Urartian text (verse 31, see above, note .12) reads: “ce que (mon) coeur a d;sir;” (i;-ti bi-b;-t;-[;] literally - “le d;sir du c;ur”). Accordingly, in the Assyrian text he restores: and also translates: “se que (mon) c;ur a d;sir;.” Judging by the general context of the inscription, the presence of such an expression here is possible.
40) M. Tsereteli considers the word salmat;mi in the Urartian text to correspond to the word he restored in the Assyrian text (verse 30): b[a]-la-;[u] “life”. Stk. 30-31 Assyrian and Stk. 32 of the Urartian text he translates: “Apr;s (cela) la prosp;rit; (et) la paix s"; tablirent", thus attributing to the term salmathini the meaning of “prosperity”. But since the word salmat;i(ni) found in other Urartian texts does not fit the meaning of “prosperity”, one can doubt the correctness restoration of the term bala;u and the fact of its correspondence to the Urartian salmat;i(ni).
41) Literally: “these.”
42) “Let them destroy” - according to the Assyrian text. In Urartian: “let them not leave” (cf. the end of the Kelyashin bilingual).
Bulletin of Ancient History, 1953, No. 4, pp. 213-217
Ancient kingdom of Urartu
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/264.htm
Here are more inscriptions of “our” or “not ours” Rusa 1.
By the power of the god Khaldi Rusa, son of Sarduri, says: I defeated the king of the country of Uelikukhi, I turned (him) into (my) slave, I removed (him) from the country, I installed (my) governor (ruler of the region) there. I built the gate of the god Khaldi (and) a majestic (?) fortress, established (for it) a name - “City of the god Khaldi”; (I built it) for the power of the country of Biainili (and) for the pacification (?) of the enemy country.
Rusa, son of Sarduri, a powerful king who ruled the country of Biainili.1)
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/265.htm
According to the lordly power of the god Haldi Rusa, son of Sarduri, says: I captured (and) enslaved these countries in one campaign: the countries of Adakhuni, Uelikukhi, Luerukhi, Arkukini, four kings from this side of the lake, (as well as) the countries of Gurkumel, Shanatuainn, Teriuishaini, Rishuaini, Zuaini, Ariaini, Zamani, Irkimatarni, Elaini, Erieltuaini, Aidamaniuni, Guriaini, Alzirani, Piruaini, Shilaini, Uiduaini, Atesaini, Eriaini, Azamerunini, 19 kings on the other side of the lake in the high mountains; 15) a total of 23 kings for one year (?) - I captured everyone (?), I drove the men (and) women to the country of Biainili. I came in the year of tribute, built these fortresses, I built this majestic (?) fortress of the god Teisheb in this country (?), established (for it) the name - “City of the god Teisheb”; (I built it) for the power of the country of Biainili (and) for the pacification (?) of enemy countries.
Rusa says: who will destroy this inscription...
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/266.htm
There are many unclear places in the inscription that cannot be accurately translated. At the beginning of the inscription we are talking about the creation of an artificial lake, about which King Rusa says in the 4th line: “he established (for it) a name - “Lake Rusa”” (terubi tini Irusae sue).
Immediately before this it is said: “there is water there for canals and ditches (?)” (AME; i;tini pilaue e"a i;inaue - art. 2-3).20) Following the message about the name of the created artificial lake, Rusa says: “I built a canal from there (i.e., from the lake) to (the city) Rusakhinili" (verse 5: agubi PA5 i;tinini Irusa;inadi). Next we talk about the situation of those lands that, obviously, with the construction of the canal fell in the sphere of the irrigation system: “that land that was desert (?)” (vv. 6-7: ikuka;ini KITIM ali quldini manu); in connection with the same land, the country of Biainili and “enemy countries” are mentioned in an unclear context ( Stk. 7-8). Then, obviously, there are the king’s decrees on the use of irrigated lands lying near the capital Tushpa: “Rusa says: when I erected Rusakhinili, when I built this lake (?), I decreed: resident of the city of Tushpa. ..” (vv. 8-11: Irusa;e ali iu Irusa;inili;iduli iu ini;ue tanubi terubi L;DUMU-;e URU;u;pami;e); further mentioned “the land in front of (the city) Rusakhinili "(verses 12-13: KITIM Irusa;inakai), "and also such a lake place" (verse. 13-14: e "a inusi;uini esi); obviously at the address of these lands it is said: “desert (?), uncultivated (?)” (st. 14-15: quldini;uli manu), etc. Stk. 18-23 contain important information about the activities of Tsar Rus on these lands: “Rus says: on that land I set up a vineyard (and?), a forest (a?), a field (I?) with crops, I accomplished mighty deeds there. Let it be this lake is the irrigator (?) of (the city) Rusakhinili.”21) Further, obviously, we are talking about the use of “water flowing (?) from the lake” (verse 26; AME; ;uinini;edue) and “water flowing ( ?) from the Alanya River" (verse 28: AME; ;Dalainini ;edule) for the needs of Rusakhinili and Tushpa.
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/268.htm
Inscription on a bronze shield found during excavations at Karmir-blur in 1950. B.B. Piotrovsky, Karmir-blur, II, p. 53 (T, P).
Rusa, the son of Sarduri, dedicated this shield to the god Khaldi, the ruler, for the sake of his life. By the greatness of the god Khaldi Rusa, son of Sarduri, powerful king, great king, king of the country of Biainili, ruler of Tushpa-city.
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/269.htm
Inscriptions on bronze bowls (5 copies) found during excavations at Karmir-blur in 1949. Although the inscriptions do not mention the patronymic of Tsar Rus, they, as B.B. Piotrovsky rightly thinks, obviously belong to Tsar Rus I, son of Sarduri . This is indicated, in particular, by the fact that, like on those bowls that belonged to the predecessor of Rus I - King Sarduri II (No. 177-190, 193-259), these also have an image of a fortress tower, a tree and a head lion
B.B. Piotrovsky, EV, V, 1951, p. 111 (F, A, T, P); aka, Karmir-blur, II, pp. 56, 61 (A, T, P).
Armory House (Tsar) Rus.1)
Inscriptions of Rus I, son of Sarduri. 274a-s.
Karmir-blur. Inscriptions on bronze bowls (3 copies), found during excavations in 1951. In the center of the bowls there is an image - a tree on a tower. Here is the text of the inscription as read by B. B. Piotrovsky:
Armory House (Tsar) Rus.
Inscriptions of Rus I, son of Sarduri. 274d.
Karmir-blur. Inscription on a bronze bowl found during excavations in 1951. We present the text of the inscription as read by B. B. Piotrovsky.
Armory House (Tsar) Rus.
Notes
1) The name “Rusa” appears on another bowl from Karmir-blur (No. 285), which B.B. Piotrovsky also considers to have belonged to Rusa I; but, in our opinion, this last cup dates back to the time of Rus II, son of Argishti (see under No. 285).
http://annals.xlegio.ru/urartu/ukn/270.htm
Rusa, the name of the kings of the state of Urartu, whose activities are reported in cuneiform inscriptions. R. I (reigned 730; 714 BC), strengthened the state, reorganized government. He fought a war with Assyria, in which he was defeated. R. II (ruled 685; 645 BC), under him significant construction and irrigation work was carried out. R. III (reigned 605; 585 BC), the last king of the state of Urartu, which was conquered by the Medes (see Media).
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/bse/128640/Rusa
Joint project with the New Herodotus portal
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Tiratsyan G.A. Urartian Armavir (according to archaeological excavations) // Culture of the East: antiquity and early Middle Ages. L., 1978
Khakhutaishvili D.A. On the history of ancient Colchian iron metallurgy // Questions of ancient history (Caucasian-Middle Eastern collection, issue 4). Tbilisi, 1973.
Book: Rubinstein R.I. At the walls of Teishebaini. (1975).
Reviews
Melikishvili G.A. Rec. on: B.B. Piotrovsky, Karmir-blur, Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia. SSR, vol. I, II // Bulletin of ancient history, 1953, No. 3.
Orel V.E. Rec. by: I. M. Diakonoff, S. A. Starostin. Hurro-Urartian as an Eastern. Caucasian Language. Munchen, 1986. 103 p. // Bulletin of Ancient History, 1989, No. 3.
Svanidze A.S. Rec. to: I. I. Meshchaninov. The language of Van cuneiform // Bulletin of Ancient History, No. 1, 1937.
Khazaradze N.V. Rec. to: Harutyunyan B.V. “Toponymy of Urartu” - Yerevan, 1985, 308 p. // Caucasian-Middle Eastern collection, VIII. Tbilisi, 1988
Maps and diagrams
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Sketch of a map of Urartu // Rubinstein R.I. At the walls of Teishebaini. 1975.
Schematic map of the “country of Nairi” and adjacent areas according to Assyrian sources of the 9th-7th centuries. BC. // Bulletin of Ancient History, 1951, No. 2. Paste.
Plan of the Teishebaini citadel // Piotrovsky B.B. Urartian fortress Teishebaini (Karmir-Blur) (to the 25th anniversary of excavations) // Brief communications of the Institute of Archeology. Vol. 100. 1965.
Plan of Zernaki-Tepe // Oganesyan K.L. Military construction in Urartu // Cultural heritage of the East. L., 1985.
Plan of the Sufian camp // Oganesyan K.L. Military construction in Urartu // Cultural heritage of the East. L., 1985.
Plan of the Aznavour camp // Oganesyan K.L. Military construction in Urartu // Cultural heritage of the East. L., 1985.
V.B. Kovalevskaya. Horse and rider.
Urartian topics on the New Herodotus forum: Urartu, Chaldeans.
For reference.
Around 780 BC e. The son of Menua, Argishti I, ascends the throne, under whom Urartu reaches its highest power. From his reign came one of the largest ancient Eastern inscriptions - the huge “Khorkhor Chronicle”, carved on the steep slopes of the Van rock. From this chronicle it is clear that at the beginning of his reign, Argishti repeated Menua’s campaign against Diauehi, turning this country, at least partially, into an Urartian governorship. Then, passing along the southern periphery of Colchis (in Urartian inscriptions - Kulha), he advanced to the area of \u200b\u200bChildyr Lake and the upper reaches of the Kura, and from there, bypassing Mount Aragats, he returned through the Araks valley. Somewhat later, Argishti created a new administrative center for Transcaucasia (already on the left bank of the Araks) - Argishtikhinili (modern Armavir). Having thus strengthened its positions in the north-west, Argishti the next year moved to Asia Minor, where he occupied the city of Melid (modern Malatia) and probably established connections with the cities of Northern Syria. In 774, a clash occurred between the Urartians and the Assyrians far to the southeast, in the valley of the Diyala River, already on essentially Babylonian territory. Thus, the Urartians increasingly embrace Assyria from the flanks. Subsequently, Argishti made a series of campaigns in Transcaucasia, in the Urmi region and in the outlying Assyrian provinces.
The number of prisoners brought by Argishti from campaigns and, probably most of them then turned into slavery, was large: for example, in one year alone he captured almost 20 thousand people. Such a number of slaves was excessive for the relatively poorly developed slave industry of Urartu, so some of the prisoners were killed on the battlefield. Some of the men may have been accepted into the Urartian army. For example, Argishti I resettled 6,600 prisoners from Aratsan and Asia Minor - probably for the construction of defensive structures, and perhaps as a garrison - to the fortress of Erbu, or Erebu, which he founded (now Arinberd near the city of Yerevan). The remaining prisoners were driven to Biainili - the central part of the state. Along with slaves, the Urartian kings captured a lot of livestock during their campaigns. Public relations
A number of Sarduri’s campaigns were sent to Transcaucasia. Unfortunately, due to the fact that a large stele (stone pillar) in a niche of the Van Rock with an inscription containing the annals of Sarduri II has not been completely preserved, the sequence of his campaigns is not entirely clear to us.
The number of captured prisoners is increasingly increasing; Thus, in one year of Sarduri II’s three campaigns against Manu, in Transcaucasia and the western regions, he brought 12,735 young men and 46,600 women.
The most important direction of the Urartu state's campaigns was the southwest. Sarduri II twice made a trip to Kumakha (Commagene), from where the route to Syria opened. He destroys Kumakha, subjugates it and enters into relations with Northern Syria (the city of Arpad). With the help of alliances, the influence of Urartu spread all the way to Damascus, and the Syrians acted together with the Urartians against Assyria, which threatened them all. Warriors with Assyria
Sarduri II also succeeded in subjugating the country of Arma, possibly identical with Shubria, on the southern slopes of the Armenian Taurus.
By 745 BC. e. a decisive battle between Urartu and Assyria became inevitable. Assyrian sources note a number of clashes with Urartu during 781-778, as well as in 766. This does not exhaust the number of such clashes. The outlying regions subordinate to Assyria, here and there, gradually came under the rule of Urartu. If the Assyrians were still forced to put up with the ever-increasing power of the Urartian state, this is explained by the difficult internal situation of Assyria, which had been shaken since the end of the 9th century. internal turmoil.
Sarduri II died at the end of the 30s of the 8th century, and Rusa I ascended the throne of Urartu. It was a difficult time for the state. The centrifugal forces of the Urartian state, hitherto restrained by the force of arms of the Urartian kings, now received scope for action. Local kings and even governors from the highest Urartian nobility were separated from the king of Urartu. We know about the circumstances of the beginning of Rusa's reign mainly from an inscription composed in Akkadian and Urartian, which was erected by Rusa near Musasir, and from the surviving reports of Assyrian spies in Urartu.
According to one Assyrian source, Rusa subsequently erected a statue in the Musassir temple depicting him on a chariot, with the inscription: “With my two horses and one charioteer, my hand took possession of the royal power of Urartu.” Although these words contain boasting, they still more or less correctly convey the historical situation: the position of Rusa at the beginning was very difficult. He, however, managed to cope with the uprising of the governors and again subordinate to his power the small but religiously, politically and strategically important kingdom of Musasir. It is believed that Rusa reformed and disaggregated the governorships. New fortresses were created - administrative centers, including in Transcaucasia, on the shores of Lake Sevan. But as soon as Ruse managed to put the Urartian state back together, he was faced with a serious external danger - the invasion of the Cimmerians. Clashes with the Cimmerians and Scythians.
The Cimmerians were one of the nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes (or group of tribes) of the Northern Black Sea region, which during the 8th century. BC e. infiltrated into Transcaucasia and Asia Minor. According to Assyrian spies, the country in which the Cimmerians were at that time was located next to Guriania (Kuriani), one of the western or central Transcaucasian regions. Rusa's campaign against the country of the Cimmerians ended in defeat for him. The Cimmerians broke into Urartian territory, devastating and destroying everything. In their onslaught on Urartu, they probably united with outlying tribes striving for liberation, and perhaps with slaves. The Cimmerians thus posed a serious threat to the very existence of the slave-holding Urartian state. However, the Cimmerians, like the Scythians who later broke through the territory of modern Azerbaijan, did not know how to take fortresses, and the fortresses were the backbone of the Urartian state. The Cimmerians limited themselves only to raids on Urartian territory. Later there were cases when they even entered the service of Urartu or Assyria, forming mercenary troops. The campaign of Sargon II to Urartu in 714 BC. e.
Ruse I managed to safely lead the Urartian state out of this serious crisis. But as the strength of Urartu grew, the inevitability of a new clash with Assyria was brewing. Apparently, in preparation for this, Rusa establishes relations with Phrygia and with the small kingdoms located in the Taurus Mountains in the west. In the east, he supports anti-Assyrian groups in Man - a country that has meanwhile become a strong and independent state, covering almost the entire territory of what is now South Azerbaijan - and in the neighboring Median and other tribes and kingdoms. The new king of Assyria, Sargon II, could only maintain his influence in these areas through continuous campaigns. In 714, Sargon set out on a punitive campaign in the area east of Lake Urmia. Rusa decided that the moment had come to inflict a decisive defeat on Assyria, and moved at the head of his troops with the goal of getting to Sargon's rear. But in time, Sargon, warned by his agents, came out to meet him. In the battle on Mount Uaush (Bushi, near Sakhend near Lake Urmia), Sargon II completely defeated the army of Rusa. Rusa fled to Tushpa and, unable to withstand this new failure that befell him, committed suicide (713 BC).
As for Sargon, he walked through Urartu, destroying everything in his path, burning settlements, demolishing fortresses, destroying canals, gardens and crops, capturing or burning food supplies. The detailed report on this campaign that has come down to us, compiled by the Assyrian court historiographer in the form of a letter to God, is the most complete source about the internal life of Urartu.
The king of Khubushkiya (the country of Nairi) came out in advance to meet the winner with gifts, but Urzana, the king of the country of Musasir, did not do this. Sargon and a small detachment suddenly crossed the mountain range and took Urzana by surprise. He fled, and his palace and the temple of the god Khaldi were plundered by the Assyrians. This temple, although it was located outside the Urartian territory itself, was the main sanctuary of the Urartian tribes; The coronation ceremonies of the Urartian kings took place here. Naturally, the temple was a repository of countless treasures. A detailed inventory of the things captured here by Sargon has reached us. This inventory indicates a high level of development of Urartian craft.
The defeat of 714 and what happened during the last two decades of the 8th century. BC e. Assyria's complete subjugation of Syria and adjacent parts of Asia Minor forced subsequent Urartian kings to radically change their foreign policy. They no longer dare to compete with Assyria in the southwest and southeast, but direct their forces mainly to the north, in Transcaucasia, and to the west, to Asia Minor. Urartu under Rus II.
A new period of strengthening of the Urartian state begins under Rus II, who ascended the throne in the 690s or 680s BC. e.
Rusa II carried out large construction both in the capital and especially in Transcaucasia. The construction of a large canal dates back to the time of Rusa II, diverting water from the Zangi River and irrigating the Airarat Valley. A new administrative center, Teishebaini, was built here, where rich tribute from the surrounding areas flocked. On the steep bank of the river stood a citadel, where administrative buildings were located. A correctly planned city lay at the walls of the citadel. Huge reserves of various types of grain, warehouses of bronze products, an oil mill, tools, weapons, remains of wall painting and other monuments were found in Teishebaini, giving a vivid idea of the culture, art and life of the Urartians. Noteworthy are the numerous cultural connections established between the population of Urartu and the Scythians, both living at that time in Eastern Transcaucasia and other places in Western Asia, and living in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. In the Urartian court art of the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. there is a noticeable great similarity with the features of Assyrian art. Apparently, the culture of the Urartian nobility of this time was largely subject to Assyrian influence.
According to one of the inscriptions of Rusa II, he made a campaign in the south-eastern part of Asia Minor, in Phrygia and against Halitu - this is apparently how the Urartians called the region of the mountain people of the Chaldai (Khalibs of the Pontic Mountains, considered by the Greeks to be the most ancient suppliers of iron products; do not mix with the Chaldeans of Babylonia). The Cimmerians acted this time, apparently in alliance with Urartu. It is believed that the campaign of the Cimmerians is discussed in Greek sources, which report the death of the Phrygian soar Midas and the destruction of the Phrygian kingdom. From this time on, Lydia's role increased in Asia Minor.
Although there were sometimes border skirmishes between Urartu and Assyria under Rus II, and the intentions of Rus and the Cimmerians sometimes aroused distrust in Assyria, in general peaceful relations remained between both states. When in 673 BC. e. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon defeated the small mountain kingdom of Shubria, where fugitive slaves and farmers were hiding, he handed over the Urartian fugitives he discovered to Ruse. For his part, Rusa, around 654, sent an embassy to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in order, apparently, to calm the fears of the latter, who expected attacks against Assyria from Urartu, the Cimmerians and the Scythians. The neutrality of these. forces was important for the victory of Ashurbanipal in the war that followed in the coming years with Babylonia and its many allies. Decline and death of Urartu
In the 640s BC. e. Sarduri III becomes king of Urartu. We have almost no news about his reign, but, undoubtedly, it was very alarming. The Scythians, who by this time had defeated the Cimmerians, together with the oppressed population of the outskirts of the Urartian kingdom, became, in all likelihood, a serious force that threatened the existence of the state of Urartu. At least Sarduri III in the early 30s of the 7th century. BC e. in a letter to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, for the first time in the history of Urartu, he no longer recognizes himself as the “brother” of the Assyrian king, that is, the king of a power of equal importance, but as a “son”. He thus recognizes, albeit formally, the supremacy of Assyria. New enemies - Media, Scythians - threatened the old states of the ancient East, and internal social contradictions weakened these states. That is why Urartu, like neighboring Mana, now seeks to rely on the seemingly unshakable power of Assyria.
Further events in the history of Urartu are unknown to us; we only know the name of another Urartian king - Rusa III, son of Erimena. The state of Urartu, like Mana, was drawn into the maelstrom of events that brought the death of Assyria. In 610 or 609, Median troops, during a war aimed at destroying the Assyrian state, apparently occupied Tushpa. However, judging by Hebrew data, in the 90s of the 6th century. BC e. Urartu, Mana and the Scythian kingdom (in Azerbaijan) continued to exist, however, as kingdoms dependent on Media. By 590, when the war broke out in Asia Minor between Media and Lydia, the remnants of Urartian independence had probably already been eliminated.
Monuments of the material culture of Urartu speak of the high development of crafts, especially metalworking. Magnificent artistic products made of bronze (figured furniture, figurines, artistic weapons, etc.), made from a wax model, with carvings and chasing, covered with forged gold sheets, carvings on red marble (facing the walls of the palace in Rusakhinili, near Tushpa), numerous paintings in Erebu (Arinberd) and Teishebaini - all these monuments clearly speak of a craft that was already specialized and had a long tradition of craftsmanship. Urartian craft technology was of great importance for the development of Transcaucasian and Scythian crafts.
Defeats of Urartu from the Assyrians at the end of the 8th century BC. marked the beginning of the destruction of the Urartian state. The consequences of these defeats could have been even more disastrous, but Assyria was unable to build on its success. At the end of the 8th century BC. e. Sargon II died as a result of a palace conspiracy, and soon after, Assyria plunged into a crisis associated with the confrontation with Babylonia and Media, which eventually, 100 years later, in 609 BC. e. led to the destruction of the Assyrian state. Perhaps the decisive factor in the sharp weakening of Urartu was the weakening of the central religious authority and the cult of the god Khaldi, associated with the destruction of Musasir.
Over the years, several rulers have changed in Urartu: Argishti II son of Rusa I (ruled in the period 714 - ca. 685 BC), Rusa II son of Argishti II (ruled in the period ca. 685 - ca. 639). BC), Sarduri III (ruled from c. 639 to c. 625 B.C.), Sarduri IV (ruled from c. 625 to c. 620 B.C.) , Erimena, who reigned during the period ca. 620 - approx. 605 BC e. and saw the death of Assyria, as well as Rus III (ruled in the period ca. 605 - ca. 595 BC) and Rus IV (ruled in the period ca. 595 - ca. 585 BC) - the last king of Urartu. Of these rulers, only Rusa II made attempts to restore Urartu to its former glory, which had only partial success. Until the end of its existence, Urartu did not resume attempts to take control of the strategic trade routes between Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, concentrating new construction in Transcaucasia, where an important alliance was concluded with the Cimmerians. Control over the center of the country was gradually lost. See also List of rulers of Urartu.
About the last period of the existence of Urartu from 605 to 585 BC. e. Very little information has survived. Apparently, the state was in decline, and few written documents appeared. The capital of Urartu during this period moved to the city of Teishebaini in Transcaucasia, and the key circumstance that destroyed Urartu was the destruction of this fortress, but the question of exactly what force destroyed the last stronghold of Urartu remains a matter of debate. There are versions that this was done by the Scythians and Cimmerians, Medes or Babylonians.
The presence of 4 kings with the name Rusa in Urartu could partly contribute to the consolidation of the image of the biblical prince Ros (Rosha) for the northerners?! Author of texts about Gog and Magog, the prince of Rosha;l (Hebrew ;;;;;;;;;;, Y'hezkel, “The Lord will strengthen”; c. 622 Judea – c. 571) - one of the “great prophets” lived in the last period of the existence of Urartu relatively close to this state, in Babylon. With the first caravan of prisoners in 597 BC. e. Ezekiel was taken to Babylonia and lived in the village of Tel Aviv near the Khobar River near Nippur, one of the religious centers of Babylonia. Here, near the river Khobar, the prophet was shown several visions from God, from which in 592 BC. e. his prophetic ministry began. At this time, Ezekiel was about 30 years old. The house of the prophet in Tel Aviv, like the houses of many priests in captivity, became a place where exiled Jews gathered (it was from such meeting houses during the captivity that the synagogue was born). The prophet addressed his fiery sermons to the people who came to him. Author of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel; due to the volume (48 chapters) and significance of which it refers to the so-called “great prophets”. And his mentions of the formidable Rosh (Ros) turned out to be associated with the northerners for a long time. And as Christianization progressed, Scythia turned into Russia.
Http://www.krotov.info/history/00/eger/vsem_018.htm
http://www.hayreniq.ru/history/806-gosudarstvo-urartu.html
http://nauka.bible.com.ua/vs-istor/vi4-04.htm
http://armeniya.do.am/news/2009-04-17-18
http://www.russika.ru/termin.asp?ter=1909
http://myths.kulichki.ru/enc/item/f00/s29/a002936.shtml
http://www.bibliotekar.ru/rusKiev/18.htm
http://roussie.boom.ru/title-russ.html, etc.
If any kings in antiquity were named Herman or Angle, or even Frank, would this arouse fair interest among scientists of the respective nations?! Quite. And he would be understandable and justified. It is curious why Russian researchers are extremely little interested in these Rus (even if this is not a trace of an ethnonym, but some other onym).
The Chechen (formerly Hurrian) Orsi are still “Russian”.
If the kings of Rus had a color connotation in their names, then there is such a version.
Stang H. NAME OF Rus' (Herulian version) Summarized this line of Ros-Rus from the first centuries of our era, however - stubbornly adapting it to the Eruls-Gelurs alone, and not to the multi-ethnic population of Rus' (Christianized Scythia). But for the line itself, I bow to H. Stang.
(Ros-Rus 9) 1.4.2. Mythological materials are illuminated in a new way from these positions. It is proved that the mention by cartographers of a small island in the Kerch Bay under the names Rosia, Rossa, Rubra, Rubea is explained by the presence of Russian fair-haired people there, and also that the name Rhosphodusa is a combination of the fact of the presence of Russians / Ros with the classical name Spodus from Pliny.
1.4.3. Even Epiphanius (394 AD) in the list of northern peoples talks about the Goths, Danes, Finns, etc., with the Germans and Amazons being the most northern. At the same time, he interprets the Germans as separate from the Goths and somehow related to the Amazons. Who are they? In Jordan, Amazon men are defined as inhabitants of swamps near the Sea of Azov. The fact that it was the “fair-haired” who were in close contact with the Amazons was expressed not by classical authors, but by eastern ones, as will be discussed further. The official History of the Eruls has not been preserved, whether it existed or not. But we have Jordanes’ “Getica” (“History of the Goths”) and the corresponding “History of the Lombards” by Paul the Deacon, and in the prehistory of both nations there are Amazons, of which both the Goths and the Lombards were apparently very proud.
(Ros-Rus 10) 1.4.4. The mention by the author of the 3rd or 4th century is considered noteworthy. Pseudo-Agatemer of the Volga called "Ros". It is proposed to interpret it on the basis of the Gothic word "raus", i.e. "reeds, reeds" of swamps, which corresponds to the conditions of the Volga Delta.
(Ros-Rus 11) 1.4.5. In the "Etymologies" of the Spanish-Gothic bishop Isidore, the neighbors of the Amazons are the so-called. "whites", identified with the people of Albania (Albani). What follows is direct reference to the Huns and the invasion of wild tribes into the Middle East through the fortifications built against them by Alexander the Great. From the context it is clear that we are talking about both the mythical Gog and Magog, and the Eruls and Huns identified with them. Apparently, Isidore knew about the legend according to which the neighbors of the Amazons are defined as “fair-haired, blond,” and in order to seem more scholarly, he concludes that they mean the classical Albanians, once inhabitants of the North Caucasus.
1.4.6. The "Scythian Achilles" is outlined. Even in the Iliad, Achilles is described as unlike a typical Greek: he has blond hair, his lover is reddish, while the Achaeans have blond hair, and the goddess Pallas Athena, who takes care of his stunning golden hair, has blue eyes. The expression "hair of Achilles", according to the poet Martial, refers to golden-red blond hair. Achilles has a "huge body." He is a “quick-stepping hero”, “diligent with his feet”, he enjoys quarrels, war and the noise of battles. Warriors of exceptional strength and courage were called "Achilles". According to Pliny the Elder, statues of naked men armed only with a spear were also called Achilles.
This Achilles suited the taste and needs of the Erulians very much, and therefore his image was deeply rooted in them. Another sign of him is a special tunic, apparently red. An example of the external “Achilles” appearance according to Byzantine ideas is the equestrian statue of Emperor Justinian - without weapons, armor or protection. Examples of this monument are known among the Germans; the dissertation gives an example in the form of one of the gold bracteates. The address of this “Scythian” Achilles is especially indicative: he was a Pontarch, i.e. ruler of the Black Sea, along which the Erul troops sailed. His relations with the Amazons, who were considered “striving to copulate with the surrounding peoples,” certainly aroused special interest among the Eruls - young, furious, and, perhaps, passionate men, who to some extent experienced the absence of women on their campaigns.
Traditions about Achilles are associated with at least six areas of the Black Sea region that were of the highest interest to the Eruli.
(1) A settlement named Achilleus, on the eastern shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus, through which the waters of the Azov Sea flow into the Black Sea. Its inhabitants, according to Ptolemy, were called "Achilleotis, Achillites."
(2) The settlement located opposite, on the western, Crimean shore of the same strait is Myrmekion (Myrmekiy). It was considered the birthplace of Achilles. The narrow strait between the two settlements of Achilleus and Myrmekion represented the only exit for the Eruls - the “Elurs” who lived in the “swamp” of Maeotis.
(3) Levka Island, lit. "White" dominates all access to the mouth of the river. the Danube, which without this island would be difficult to access for sailors due to the very low position of the mouth. It was also called the Island of the Blessed. There, according to some legends, there was a so-called. Running Track (dromos) of Achilles, Achilles Run, with this name more often applied to the following place.
(4) This is a sprawling sandy peninsula located northwest of the Crimean Peninsula, with which it is connected, penetrating the sea towards the mouth of the Dnieper. It is extremely advantageous for dominance over all maritime movements in the Black Sea, as well as as a base for naval invasions. It is also known under the indicated name, Achilles Run (dromos).
(5) Berezan Island, at the mouth of the Dnieper Estuary, opposite the previous peninsula, was called Achilles Island. Both there and in the city of Olbia, higher up to the Dnieper, a kind of “personality cult” of Achilles was established. An ancient stone inscription dedicated to Achilles Pontarchus praises a local official for organizing a running competition (dromos) for young men in honor of Achilles.
(6) The cape, located immediately east of the mouth of the Dnieper, was called by the Turks of the last century Kinburn, Kilburn, and the first syllable of this name is an abbreviation of the name of Achilles. According to Strabo, this cape is a “bare place”, with “a bush dedicated to Achilles.”
With the exception of Bely Island (Levka) at the mouth of the Danube, all other areas belong to the Tavroscythia region. Even on Bely Island there is an indication of that direction, for the sanctuary of Achilles on it faces the Meotian swamp, i.e. located near the eastern shore and with the entrance there, towards the hero. On this island, bloody customs took place, which were later attributed to the Tauro-Scythians, in the form of sacrifices and burning of people. A number of authors insist that it was here that Achilles was buried, while others, on the contrary, claim that this took place on the island of Berezan.
The confirmation for four of the above passages of the theme of running in connection with Achilles is appropriate to take into account in connection with the Aerulians and their special running, which they were proud of and boasted of, and for which they were famous professionally. Apparently, the Eruli liked to be known as runners, like the blue-eyed, fair-haired, sea-going, Tauro-Scythian Achilles. The poet Lycophron also called him “the king of the Scythians.” There was a tradition that he “conquered twelve cities by sea and eleven by land,” which fits perfectly with the horizons of the activities of the Eruls.
Achilles is characterized by a special bitterness, noted from the first lines of the Iliad. “Wrath, goddess, sing to Achilles, son of Peleus...” coincides with the “bitterness” of the Erulian military leaders, i.e. Odin, and perhaps served as his inspiration and source. Attractive to members of the military community was the immortality of Achilles and his companions, who fought to the death during the day and celebrated and got drunk at night, which completely corresponds to the picture of the warlike paradise of the Scandinavians, Odin’s Valhalla.
(Ros-Rus 12) 1.4.7. This by no means exhausts the folk, popular (i.e. non-state) heritage correlated with the Eruls. Let us turn to the still little-studied essay of Pseudo-Ethics from Istria (about 770), in which scanty information and names abound. Among them are described the so-called. Meparoti. This name is reminiscent of Isidore’s “Etymologies,” where it reads: “Myoparo is a very small “paro”... German robbers use these on the ocean coast or in swamps for the sake of (their) speed.” It is described how they destroy other people's ships, breaking through their sides from under the water, cf. other sk. Raufari from the verb raufa "to make a hole." They say that pirates even live under water - a clear exaggeration, apparently caused by the fact that the robbers can suddenly disappear among the reeds, as if without a trace. Rumors that Alexander the Great was their student also contributed to these ideas - both under water and at the Caspian (Iron) Gate, which were strengthened thanks to the knowledge of these pirates about bitumen. Alexander allegedly gave them the so-called. Altars of Alexander in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, i.e. at a place visited by the Erulians.
STRENGTHENING THE APPLICATION OF ONOMASTICS IN ROS-RUS TO THE PEOPLES OF SCYTHIA
(Ros-Rus 13) 1.5.1. If the previous chapter examined folk mythology, then this chapter is devoted to the official, state mythology, which expressed fear of the Last Judgment and concern at every sign of its approach. In particular, the Byzantines were afraid of the appearance of representatives of the Gog-Magog tribes, as well as the mythical country of Ros in the far north of the Oikumene. The first source of an apocalyptic nature cited by the author refers to the very first invasions of the Goths and Eruls on the Greeks, in 267 and 269. AD A manuscript by an unknown author, which has not been taken into account until now, contains a warning: “Twice three for the number of one thousand he counts, / until now they do not bring the end of the seventh era. / The fair-haired people rose up against Byzantium. / The Goths, the sons of Hagar, represent a vast a mass of people. / Alas, the waters of Alpheus are extremely unhappy, / (with these) conclusions (on) the island of Greece, / and worse for all humanity!” At this early stage, the Goths are defined as the “fair-haired people”, representing for the Greeks the beginning of the end of the world (in the seventh millennium). They were put to flight by the emperor Aurelian, after which the Greeks' fears about them subsided for more than a hundred and ten years.
(Ros-Rus 14) 1.5.2. Only starting in 378, the Goths again disturbed the imagination of the Greeks, as a result of the battle of Adrianople, where they destroyed two-thirds of the entire army of Emperor Valens. To a contemporary, Ambrose, this event seemed to be a harbinger of “the end of the whole world.” If earlier the Goths were identified with the Getae and the Scythians, and the king of the Goths was called “king of the Scythians,” now, after Adrianople, they were identified with the tribes Gog and Magog. We are also talking about the simplest consonance: the name “Goth” was perceived as “Gog” not only by Greek authors, but also by the Goths themselves, which is what they boasted about, according to Isidore and Jordan.
(Ros-Rus 15) 1.5.3. In the 390s. There was a whole wave of panic rumors that the end of the world was actually coming, the Last Judgment, the harbingers of which were the Goths. An example of the growth of such convictions is provided by Saint Jerome, who first, sometime before 392, denies the opinion of his contemporary Ambrose that “Gog is Goth.” In the commentary to Ch. 39 of the prophet Ezekiel, after 392, Jerome indirectly indicates that he himself does not believe in this. The same is the case with Saint Augustine, for he also denies the identification of Gog-Magog with specific peoples “like the Getae and Massagetae” (with whom Procopius later associated the Slavic Spores, who lived on vast lands in “scattered” villages).
(Ros-Rus 16) 1.5.4. The opinion of St. Jerome, however, changed dramatically when the Huns and their Erulian allies invaded the Christian east in 395: he fears that “the Roman world is falling,” “the end of the world is now when the Roman power falls.” Another four years later, Jerome is convinced that the Huns are the wild tribes of Gog-Magog, locked by Alexander the Great behind the Iron Gates of the Caucasus. A similar opinion is expressed by the Roman writer Hegessipus.
And our official historians and linguists only remember the beginning of the use of Ros-Rus to the peoples of Scythia from the 6th century. And even then they are trying to somehow gloss over this plot.
(Ros-Rus 17) 1.5.5. From the 390s the identity of Gog and Magog with the Goths was established forever, which may seem strange, since the main threat to Byzantium was then no longer the Goths, but the Huns, in particular after the terrible events of 395-396. There are also sources in which the Huns are compared with the Gog-Magog tribes. Thus, Patriarch Proclus (434-437) cites a reference from Ezekiel regarding the sudden end of the Hunnic army led by Rou(g)as, Roas, whom he identified with “Gog, archon of Ros.” Even in the 6th century, the author Andrew of Caesarea states that Gog and Magog are those Scythians in the north “whom we call Hunnica.”
(Ros-Rus 18) 1.5.6. The “candidacy” of being ready to become and remain Gog-Magog was facilitated by the consonance of names (Gog-Goth). But the candidacy of the Eruls also manifests itself in its own way: through a network of “prophecies” written after the events “predicted” by these prophecies, we are notified of the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire by infidels, Christians of the Arian faith, characterized as the “fair-haired race.” In the Armenian version the so-called. The “Seventh Vision of Daniel” refers to the penultimate king Orlogios (i.e. Olibrius), as well as the last one (Romulus Augustulus), after whom new rulers will come, “from a different religion, i.e. the Arians.” In one Greek version of the Apocalypse of Daniel, the winners are called “those fair-haired people.” The commander of the troops who deposed the last emperor, Odoacer bore the title "king of the Eruli" (476-493). In the aforementioned Greek "Apocalypse of Daniel" they seem to refer precisely to the powers of Odoacer. Then the words “those fair-haired people” hint at his Eruls. In another Greek version (The Vision of Daniel) there is a reference to the fall of the Lombards and the invasion of the Arabs, probably in 778. Here the Byzantine army joins the "Russian race" and inflicts a complete defeat on the Arabs, and after a happy period follows the arrival of the Antichrist.
(Ros-Rus 19) 1.5.7. It is significant that there was a change in the views of the Greeks on the fair-haired northerners: from representatives of the fierce tribes of Gog-Magog to soldiers of mercenary troops. The Goths, for their part, retained the imprint of the image of Gog-Magog in the works of a number of authors (Isidore, Jordanes, the chronicler from Asturias, Godfrey of Viterbo), in versions of the Tale of Alexander the Great by Ps.-Callisthenes, as well as in the Jewish collection of traditions - Targume.
(Ros-Rus 20) 1.5.8. Ideas about “fair-haired” northerners go back not only to the custom of the Eruls and other Germans to dye their hair, etc., but also partially to the ancient tradition from the time of Aristotle and Hippocrates that the Scythians were “dirty yellow,” which was perceived as "Russians". Examples of red-haired and blue-eyed representatives of some groups of the Central Asian population are also given. It is not known, in particular, who the “Karmir Khion” - “Red Huns” are. There were also Germans among the Huns, but the “Germanic” names of the Hun leaders do not prove anything, since they most likely reflect only the fact that the intermediary narrators were Germans.
(Ros-Rus 21) 1.5.9. The tradition of the “red Jews” locked in the Caucasus by Alexander the Great apparently goes back not to the physical “redness” of the Jews, but to the memories of the Eruli, allies of the Huns in 395-396.
(Ros-Rus 22) 1.5.10. In the work of the Syrian Jacob of Seruzhsky, there is a mention that not only Gog-Magog will devastate the world, but also the fierce people “within the mentioned gates,” beyond the Wall of Alexander, “the famous people.” This role suited the Eruli and similar peoples well. It is clear that she is also suitable for other people from Scythia.
(Ros-Rus 23) 1.5.11. There is also a source sympathetic to the Eruls: we are talking again about Ps.-Ethics from Istria. After all, he declares that the inhabitants of the reed beds and swamps put their efforts into the work of Alexander the Great in order to block the path of Gog-Magog himself to the destruction of the world.
(Ros-Rus 24) 1.5.12. In the Apocalypse attributed to Ps.-Method, we meet the “queen of the Amazons,” and “Indians among the blacks,” and “red Jews,” and the Antichrist. This means that the main elements of the emerging ideas were preserved, such as references to redness and the connection with the Amazons and the Last Judgment, but the identity of the Germans with the red-haired northerners had already been lost.
1.6. Traces of the Eruls (from Ephraim and the Elder Edda to Byzantium)
(Ros-Rus 25) 1.6.1. The legacy of traditions about the Eruls can be traced in various sources. In the middle of the 4th century AD. Preacher Ephraim the Syrian mentions the “fair-haired” (rosaya) as a people. Obviously, we are talking about a real people who had relations with Byzantium in the 4th century AD.
1.6.2. Another Syrian, Pseudo-Zachary in 555, lists the peoples north of the Caucasus, including the Hrws, whom he describes as neighbors and partners of Amazons so heavy that horses could not carry them. Based on a parallel Arabic text by ad-Dinavari (895), it is proved that by “Khrus” Ps.-Zechariah means “fair-haired,” blue-eyed neighbors - partners of the Amazons, pedestrian warriors, too heavy for horses - characteristic , going back to the Eruli. THE OFFICIOUS KNOWS THIS VERSION AND SOMETIMES DISCUSSES ABOUT IT. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Rhetor
Their neighboring people are the Eros, men with huge limbs who have no weapons and cannot be carried by horses because of their limbs.
http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus7/Zacharia/text1.phtml
(Ros-Rus 26) 1.6.3. From a contemporary of the last Syrian, Jordan (about 550), we acquire information about the “gens” (tribe, clan) of Rosomones. For infidelity and betrayal, they were persecuted and executed by the Gothic king Germanarich (350-375). The names of the representatives of this group among Jordan, Snorri and Saxo are clearly Scandinavian. Ros - is impeccably explained by the Gothic word raus "reeds", and most likely, by color designation.
(Ros-Rus 27) 1.6.4. The Rosmo Mountains also appear in the Old Norse Atlakvida ("The Song of Atli/Attila"). For more than a hundred years, the name Rosmo has been explained by the ancient German color designation rosamo = “red-brown”. The closeness and possible kinship between the Eruls and the Burgundians is discussed, for both groups were divided into western and eastern branches, they were closely related to each other, had common roots (the Burgundians from Borgundarholm, today's Bornholm, around which the Eruls were concentrated), and the very term " Burgundy" became precisely the color designation for "red-brown".
1.6.5. According to the latest research (Gschwantler), the name Rosomones is interpreted as “red”, possibly also “fast”, about the Eruls. The speed of the Eruls seems to be connected with their "sacred" intoxication (probably from the red fly agaric) when they fought led by Odin, literally "Fierce". The nickname “(x)eruls”, by the way, resonates well with Odin’s title Herela “commander”, from her “army” (cf. also the verb herja “to devastate”). The shade of “distrustful”, “insidious” as the original meaning of their “redness” is rejected as a secondary interpretation. A German poem is given about the knight Vigalois, whose opponent is the “red knight”, from the “red, inflamed” color of his beard and hair: “I have heard about such (people) that they have distrustful hearts” (“treacherous”), according to the poet .
1.6.6. In Jordan’s narrative, one detail deserves special attention: seeing that his “Rosomon” (Erulean) wife was dyeing her hair, Germanarich immediately killed her in a cruel manner. Dyeing your hair red was an Erulian military custom. The importance of color is also emphasized by the description of one of the brothers of the murdered woman, named Erpr (literally “red-brown”) in the Speeches of Hamdir (Elder Edda).
1.6.7. In various Old Norse poems collected in the so-called. The Elder Edda, even more clearly emphasizes the social significance of the red color among the Eruls, in their clothes and helmets, “in red gold” (“The Song of Atli”, “The Speeches of Hamdir”, “The Second Song of Atli”, “The Second Song of Gudrun”, "Incitement of Gudrun"). The "Rigstool" says that of the three social classes, slaves are dark-black, free ones are red-red, and jarls are fair-haired and ruddy (cheeked).
1.6.8. It turns out that the Eruls in the Edda are well attested under their name "yarlar" ("Speeches of Hamdir", "Incitement of Gudrun", "First Song of Gudrun", "Speeches of the High One", "Song of Khabard"). With one exception, they appear in the plural, and thus stand out as a separate group. Yarlungaland - “the country of the jarls (eruls?)” is mentioned in the “Saga of Thidrek” (the epic Theodoric, king of the Goths in Italy).
(Ros-Rus 28) 1.6.9. Actually, during the Viking Age, the legacy of the “red tradition” can be seen in expressions like raudavikingr letters. “red, i.e. especially fierce Viking”, raudaran “robbery with violence”, raudagalinn “red-crazy”. One, as noted, is Raudagrani, “Redbeard.” “Red,” by the way, does not fully convey the meaning of the Old Norse word, which has a connotation of brilliance, inflammation, and fiery character.
(Ros-Rus 29) 1.6.10. This "redness" noted by the Byzantines was perceived as a sign of the predicted saviors of the empire and Christianity. Several decades before the first “Russians” visited Byzantium in 838, a “prophet” appeared in Sicily, saying that the “Russian people” would save Byzantium.
(Ros-Rus 30) 1.6.11. It turns out that the Byzantines themselves perceived the Russians themselves as fair-haired. As examples, excerpts are given from the Byzantine authors Herodian and Moskop, from a manuscript in the Athos monastery about the Cossacks - “fair-haired”, as well as from another manuscript and act materials of the monastery, the Book “On Ceremonies” of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Liudprand, as in the newest usage.
(Ros-Rus 31) 1.6.12. Finally, the so-called The Cappadocian testament, attributed to Alexander the Great, where among the peoples he conquered the people of the “fair-haired” are mentioned. From the context it is clear that they were presented as inhabitants of territories near the Caucasus. Dating: approximately 8th century.
1.7. Eruls-Russians in Islamic sources
The Erul heritage is also revealed in the medieval culture of Muslims. The author offers a new translation and examines a number of passages from Islamic sources.
An excerpt from the British Library Add. manuscript studied by the author is given. 5928 that the inhabitants of a certain country of S-d-rkha (apparently from Samarkand) are “giants, with such long tongues (!) that no one has ever seen them on horseback.” Presumably, the author of this manuscript is al-Hasan al-Basri.
The Amazons' neighbors are described as blue-eyed, very hairy, brave and extremely tall.
3. Ibid.
The Amazons testify that their men are seafarers, brave, and cruel.
4. Ibid.
It is said that the Amazons are very tall, with a heavy build, their facial features are red, blond and blue.
6. Manuscript of an unnamed Aragonese Arab (undated).
(Ros-Rus 32) Having completed the construction of the Wall, Alexander the Great leaves Gog-Magog and meets “a people of red color with red hair, where men and women live separately from each other,” and then in connection with Fergana and Samarkand they meet another one “ people with (large) bodies, beautiful."
7. The so-called manuscript Nihayatu l-Arab (unnamed, undated).
(Ros-Rus 33) In the country of the Slavs “in the Ocean,” Alexander the Great meets “a people with red faces and red hair, having (large) bodies and a strong constitution.” Their king subsequently serves and helps Alexander faithfully.
8. Al-Sha"bi (approx. 700).
(Ros-Rus 34) In the area of Gog-Magog, Alexander the Great sees “a people with red hair and blue eyes.” They tell about Gog-Magog, what they eat: “Every spring the ocean throws out two fish for them.” This is an indication of whales that actually “wash up” just in the spring on the coasts, for example, of the Faroe Islands, pursued by the toothed killer whale.
(Ros-Rus 35) 9. Al-Dinavari (about 895).
Having finished building his Wall, thus separating Gog-Magog from the others, Alexander the Great finds “a tribe of red color, with red hair, among which men and women live apart from each other,” and then in connection with Samarkand and Fergana “saw The people are large and handsome."
(Ros-Rus 36) 10. Al-Masudi (910).
“(As for) ar-Rus, the Greeks call them Arousia, which means “Red”.
11. Ibid.
A whale passes through the "Maotis River" (= Sea of Azov), twice in one year, and the inhabitants take advantage of it. A two-time appearance is a distortion of the news about a whale (pursued by a killer whale).
12. Ibn Fadlan (922).
In the famous story of the caliph's ambassador, a passage about a giant who visited the king of the Volga Bulgarians deserves special attention. Called the representative of Gog-Magog, he is interpreted by the author of the dissertation as a “scarecrow” for the caliph’s ambassador and the Arabs in general, which was talked about in order to maintain the Bulgarian monopoly on northern trade and provide them with financial support from the caliph.
In the even more famous passage about the “Russians”, attention has not yet been paid to the fact that their name is not “ar-Rus”, but “ar-Rusia”, from the Greek “oi rousioi” [
13. Al-Hasan al-Basri (?).
Here we find, so to speak, the original source of Ibn Fadlan, in the message of al-Hasan that some representatives of Gog-Magog are as tall as a palm tree, hairy, and their food is a huge fish brought to them by the spring rains. They live somewhere in the north, on the Ocean coast, and, as it seems, on a peninsula separated by high, bare mountains from more southern and civilized people. They are naked.
14. Ibn Fadlan.
In a letter allegedly from the Visu people (ancestors of the current Vepsians), transmitted by the Caliph's ambassador ibn Fadlan, Gog-Magog on the Ocean coast beyond the sea and mountains, feeding on whale meat, was again noted. Obviously, we are talking about the inhabitants of northern Norway. Ibn Fadlan reports their nakedness. Knowing very well the Muslim classics, including al-Basri, Ibn Fadlan apparently wrote what the head of the believers would like to read, i.e. caliph.
That is, as Scythia became Christianized, all this from the first centuries of our era referred to the Scythian peoples - Ros-Rus (often “fair-haired”, “red-haired”, “red” and “beautiful” - with a hint of the Paleolithic depths of the language). There are many of them among Caucasians, including Slavs. And we will forgive H. Sting for associating these traits only with the Heruli-Heruli.
Perhaps there were fair-haired people among the Urartians.
Urartu was one of the most powerful states of the Ancient World. In the 6th century BC it ceased to exist. However, some Armenians still consider themselves descendants of the Urartians.
On the Armenian Highlands
Urartu is an ancient state in South-West Asia, located on the territory of the Armenian Highlands. Urartu as a tribal union took shape already in the 13th century BC; mention of Urartu as a state is found in sources from the 8th century. For an entire quarter of the 1st millennium, Urartu was a significant force on the geopolitical map of the Ancient World. But, having experienced its heyday in the 9th-mid-8th centuries BC, by the 6th century BC the state had fallen into decline. It was caused by both external and internal factors.
Who are the Urartians
One might say, there was no such people as the Urartians. Throughout its history, the population of Urartu has been an intertribal community. The fragmentation of Urartian society was one of the reasons for the decline of Urartu as a state.
Currently, there is controversy in scientific circles about the succession of Armenia from Urartu. Urartu as a state, as we have already written, came to an end in the 6th century BC, at which time the ethnogenesis of the Armenians was only in the final stage of development.
Even in the 5th century BC, the population of the Armenian Highlands was heterogeneous and consisted of remnants of the Urartians, Proto-Armenians, Hurrians, Semites, Hittites and Luwians. Note that the Urartians are on this list, but there are also other peoples in it.
Undoubtedly, the genetic component of the Urartians is still present in the genetic code of the Armenians, but no more than the genetic component of the same Hurrians and Luwians, not to mention the proto-Armenians. The connection between the Armenians and the Urartians is evidenced by borrowings taken by the Armenian language from the Urartian and Hurrian dialects. It must also be recognized that the Armenians also experienced the cultural influence of the once powerful state.
Language of Urartu
The language of Urartu was not homogeneous and was used by the ruling dynasty. All found sources of Urartian writing tell about kings and their glorious exploits. Linguists see a connection between both the Urartian and Hurrian languages, and also talk about the influence of the Assyrian language on Urartian. Many Urartu ideograms repeat Assyrian ones, but have retained fewer interpretations of each symbol. Also, the Urartian language differs from the Assyrian language in some vowels, which indicates the originality of the articulation of the Urartian language.
Religion
The religion of Urartu was a polytheistic religion with a developed pantheon of gods, typical of the Middle Eastern despotic states of the Ancient World. The list of gods consists of 70 positions.
The supreme god in the pantheon was the god Khaldi. This was the only god of Urartian origin. The etymology of his name is not fully understood. There are versions that the name Khaldi is connected with the word “-hal” (sky) that still exists in some Caucasian languages, so “Khaldi” can be translated as “heavenly”.
The second god of the pantheon - Teisheba - was the god of thunder and war, the god Shivini - the god of the sun.
The gods of Urartu, like the gods of any ancient pantheistic pantheon, can hardly be called merciful and tolerant. Sacrifice, including human sacrifice, was common in Urartu. However, researchers note the relative tolerance of the Urartian religion, associated with the multi-tribal nature of the Urartian population.
Urartu and its enemies
Urartu's main enemy was Assyria. The struggle for hegemony in the Middle East continued throughout the history of Urartu. Urartu borrowed a lot from the Assyrians, including elements of military uniforms and weapons characteristic of the Assyrians. In open clashes, the army of Urartu lost to the Assyrians, partly due to this is the widespread development of defensive architecture in the state.
The army of Urartu was regular, wars, both defensive and expansionary, were ongoing. At the same time, the rulers of Urartu took a direct part not only in battles, but also in military tournaments held in Urartu. The army of Urartu was large enough to ensure its interests (in its best years). Thus, the army of King Ishpuini consisted of 100 chariots, 10 thousand horse soldiers and 3 thousand foot soldiers.
The 6th century BC was a crisis for both Assyria and Urartu. Urartu was attacked by the Scythians and Cimmerians from the north, and from the southeast by the Medes. Under their onslaught, the state began to disintegrate, its capital moved to the Transcaucasian city of Teishebaini. From the moment of the destruction of Teishebaina, the history of Urartu as a state can be considered complete. On the topic of who destroyed this city, historians still do not have an accurate idea. The honor of burying the glory of Urartu is shared by the Scythians, Cimmerians, Medes and Babylonians.
The history of the state of Urartu is known to us from cuneiform tablets found in 1827 by the young archaeologist Friedrich Schulz. In the wake of extraordinary interest in the study of historical antiquities and the rapid development of archeology as a science, the Assyrian city of Nineveh, the palace of King Sargon II in Khorsabad, and the famous library of Ashurbanipal were soon discovered - all this greatly contributed to the rapid deciphering of cuneiform sources and obtaining information about the history of Urartu.
At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The indigenous population living on the territory of the Armenian Highlands enters into a persistent and prolonged struggle with the Assyrians, and the legendary king of ancient history, Tiglath-palassar I, goes on military campaigns against the “country of Nairi”. In the area of Lake Van in the middle of the 9th century, a united state of proto-Armenian tribes was formed, which in a short period of time became so strong that it was able to decisively repel the Assyrian invaders. The inhabitants of the new Urartian state could be called Khaldi (on behalf of Khaldi, the main god of the Urartians), and their country - Biayni. The long-term confrontation with the Assyrian kingdom became a powerful impetus for the unification of previously disparate tribes, and the natural resources of the Armenian Highlands created the economic prerequisites for the formation of a strong and prosperous state in this territory.
Fragment of an Urartian fresco
One of the main stages in the formation of the state of Urartu was the reign of King Ishpuini (828 - 810 BC), the son of the legendary founder of the Kingdom of Van - Sarduri I. Reforms and rearmament of the army gradually turned Urartu into one of the most influential states in Western Asia. During the reign of Ishpuini, Urartu began to undertake its own campaigns of conquest and expand its territory. The most important achievement of this ancient king was the capture of the city of Musasir, which was a religious center for the veneration of the god Khaldi, the supreme deity of the Urartian pantheon. In addition to Haldi, the divine triad included the god of thunder and war Teisheba and the god of the solar disk Shivini. The analogue of the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar was Arubaini, the wife of the supreme god Khaldi. As you can see, the schematic basis for constructing the divine pantheon of even ancient peoples indicates the presence of a single plot and composition of cosmogonic myths and religious rituals.
The memory of Urartu is preserved in the genetic code of modern Armenians
The capture of Musasir gave Ishpuini the legal right to carry out religious reform in Urartu, promoting the centralization of royal power. For the state of the ancient world, which was Urartu, the religious reform of Ishpuini was very important. The inhabitants of Urartu believed that their successes directly depended on the power of their supreme god. In the eyes of the Urartians, the God Khaldi, who was also revered in northern Assyria, could resist Ashur himself, the supreme god of his southern neighbor.
Image of the god Khaldi, Arin-Berd, Historical Museum of Armenia
The apogee of the struggle against foreign intervention occurred during the reign of King Argishti (778 - 750 BC). The long-term confrontation ended with the victory of the Urartians, for the glory of which the ruler ordered a description of this long-awaited event to be carved on the Van Rock, not far from the residence of the rulers of Urartu in the capital - the city of Tushpa. In general, Urartian architecture is characterized by an abundance of rooms carved into rocks. Thus, the internal spaces of the Van Rock probably served as tombs for the Urartian kings, and the surface itself was carefully processed with the tools of stonemasons, the rocky slopes are covered with numerous ledges, stairs and niches.
Urartu fought with Assyria for hegemony in the Middle East
In terms of its political system, Urartu was a typical despotic state of the ancient Eastern type, the basis of which was a strong central government that kept various conquered tribes in subjection. To weaken local ethnic conflicts, the Urartu authorities used all those methods of state coercion that they would later use until our time. This includes punitive campaigns, the destruction of rebel tribal unions, and the resettlement of residents of occupied areas to other parts of the country. At the same time, their territory was given to new settlers, forcibly brought here from the most remote corners of the state. To strengthen power on the periphery of their kingdom, the Urartians built fortresses, created administrative centers and sent their governors there, on whose shoulders fell control over the timely payment of tribute and the work on the construction of fortresses and irrigation systems - artificial lakes and canals. They have become a vital necessity for the population of both lowland and mountainous regions of the country. The main wealth of the Van kingdom was cattle. Among the crafts in Urartu, metallurgy achieved great development, because iron began to be used here earlier than in other regions of Western Asia. Culturally, the Urartian state was close to Assyria, from which it, in particular, borrowed its writing, taking a ready-made linguistic system and adapting it to the peculiarities of its own language. It is interesting that the temple of the supreme god Khaldi in Musasir was significantly different from Assyrian buildings: with its gable roof and decorated pediment, it was more similar to archaic Greek temples.
Cuneiform tablet from Urartu
The feature that distinguished Urartu from previous and subsequent empires that existed on the territory of Western Asia was the unified architectural and urban appearance of the entire state, known in archaeological literature as “fortress cities.” They were built on high hills dominating the surrounding plain, which either never had settlements or were abandoned by the inhabitants before the Urartian conquest, and in some cases destroyed. Among the unique features of the Urartian worldview, it is also worth noting the widespread cult of wolves or dogs - totemic analogues of ancient Egyptian cats. According to local beliefs, wolves accompanied the souls of the dead to the afterlife and even had the ability to resurrect the dead. In collections of Urartian art you can often find a ritual figurine of Aralez, a deity of the ancient Armenian pantheon who revived the fallen on the battlefield by licking their wounds.
The Urartians were tolerant of non-believers
By the middle of the 8th century. BC e. the power of the state of Urartu began to gradually weaken, and the main rival, the Assyrian kingdom, on the contrary, entered its heyday. The country was headed by the talented ruler Tiglath-palassar III, who set as his goal to restore the former influence of Assyria. Having won a confident victory over the Urartian army, Tiglathpalassar in a cuneiform inscription says the following: “I locked Sarduri Urartu in Turushpa (Tushpa), its main city, and carried out a great massacre in front of the city gates. I installed the image of my dominion opposite the city.” The defeat of the ancient Urartian capital and the devastating march of the Assyrian army through enemy territory weakened the Urartian state, which soon lost its former dominant position in the northeast of Western Asia.
At the archaeological excavations of the city of Tushpa, 1915
The weakening of the Assyrian kingdom, which began a long and bloody war with Babylon and Media in the second half of the 7th century, did not stop the decline of the Urartu civilization. Around 590 BC e. The kingdom of Van lost its independence and was captured by Media and then by Persia. It should be noted that neither in eastern Turkey nor on the territory of modern Armenia have any post-Urartian structures been discovered earlier than the 1st century AD. e., ancient geographers and historians do not mention the existence of urban culture. The population of the Armenian Highlands during this period was heterogeneous and consisted of remnants of the Urartians, Proto-Armenians, Semites and Hittites. The memory of the state of Urartu became part of the traditions and customs of the Armenian nobility, who used Urartian art objects, jewelry and clothing. The population of the Armenian Highlands maintained the functionality of the Urartian hydraulic structures necessary for agriculture. For example, the 70 km long Menua canal is in operation to this day and, in terms of its engineering characteristics, is not inferior to modern hydraulic structures.
State of Urartu was located on a large highland located between Asia Minor, Transcaucasia (southern Armenia and Georgia), the northwestern outskirts of Iran and Northern.
The territory of Urartu was protected on all sides by mountain ranges and therefore provided natural conveniences for successfully protecting the population from raids by neighboring tribes and predatory conquests, mainly by kings.
The natural conditions of Urartu were quite diverse. The entire territory is cut by numerous mountain ranges, usually reaching a height of 2000-4000 m. Above them rise individual massifs and peaks covered with eternal snow (Great Ararat - 5156 m). The passes through these mountain ranges are located quite high and are often covered with snow in winter. In the Middle Caucasus, only very few passes are located below 3 thousand m.
The main natural resources of Urartu are stone, timber and metals. Of particular importance were the deposits of copper, iron, lead and tin, which determined the high development of metallurgy.
Already in the second millennium BC. tribal unions Nairi" And " Uruatri” (Urartu), are found in written testimonies of neighbors. It is possible that the name “Nairi” is related to the word “Naharina,” with which the Egyptians and Semitic tribes designated the “country of rivers” that lay to the northeast of the middle reaches of the Euphrates.
Unfortunately, the inscriptions do not contain any direct and accurate information about the legendary “ancestral homeland” of the Urartians, located to the west or anywhere far from Transcaucasia. On the other hand, ancient and modern geographical names of mountains, lakes and tribes of Transcaucasia go back to deep Urartian antiquity. For example, the name of Mount Ararat and the Alarodian tribes, mentioned by ancient Greek writers, is obviously associated with the name of the country of Urartu and the Urartu tribe. The ancient name of the country Biaina is preserved in the designation of Lake Van. It is possible that in the area of Erzerum and the upper reaches of the Euphrates there lived a tribe of Diaukhi, close to the Urartians, which ancient Greek historians, such as Xenophon, called Taochians.
Thus, the Urartian tribes were the original population of Transcaucasia, firmly living in this territory since ancient times.
In general, we don’t know very much about Urartu and the Urartu people. The main sources of information about Urartu are cuneiform texts found in the Transcaucasus and neighboring countries, of which only about 350 Urartian inscriptions are known, but even they provide significant material, especially for studying the political history of the Urartians.
The largest and most important among these inscriptions are Khorkhor inscription of Argishti I And large inscription of Sarduri II, being something like chronicles. The Khorkhor inscription describes political events, mainly the military campaigns of King Argishti, who stubbornly fought against Assyria and a number of neighboring peoples, and the large inscription of Sarduri II, in 265 lines, tells about the wars that this Urartian king and conqueror waged for 8 years .
The inscription of Sarduri II is of especially great historical interest, since it dates back to the heyday of the Urartian state - to the 8th century. BC e., when it began to gain the upper hand over its constant rival - Assyria. Urartian inscriptions also speak of Urartian campaigns in some regions of Transcaucasia and other neighboring countries.
The emergence of the state of Urartu
The first information about the Urartians dates back only to the 13th century. BC e., however, numerous excavations make it possible to study the culture of the ancient peoples of Transcaucasia, among which in the middle of the second millennium BC. e. The Urartian people took shape and subsequently created their own state. These ancient tribes, belonging to the Hittite-Hurrian group, were engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture. They knew small and large cattle, pigs, and from the end of the second millennium BC. e. and horses, as indicated by the finds of bronze bits and later burials of a rider with a horse.
In the river valleys and the fertile areas adjacent to them, people were engaged in agriculture, which in many respects still retained its primitive character. The land was cultivated with the help of very imperfect tools, for example a hoe, a model of which was found in Trialeti. Wooden sickles with flint inserts only gradually gave way to bronze ones. Millet, barley and wheat were sown. Among the crafts, stone processing and metallurgy achieved particular development. In many places of the Caucasus, especially in the Tsalka region, “many items made of obsidian (volcanic glass) were discovered, the processing technique of which dates back to ancient times.
The widespread use of stone in construction is indicated by megalithic architecture, examples of which in the form of numerous dolmens have been preserved on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in particular in Abkhazia and other parts of Georgia, and finally in Azerbaijan. This type of structure also includes ancient fortress walls made of large stones (Cyclopean masonry). In many places in Transcaucasia, the remains of these ancient primitive fortresses were discovered, which date back to either the pre-Urartian or Urartian era and, in their typical large-stone masonry, are closely related to the Cyclopean architecture of the peoples of the northern part of Western Asia, in particular the Hittites.
In Armenia, in particular in the area of Lake Sevan, the remains of ancient fortresses have been preserved. Judging by the Urartian inscriptions found here, these fortresses were centers of Urartian political influence and domination in the regions of Transcaucasia. But it is possible that some of the Cyclopean fortresses of Transcaucasia were built back in the pre-Urartian era and served the local population as shelters, first during the period of intertribal wars, and then to protect the population from the troops of the Urartian kings, who repeatedly invaded Transcaucasia.
Metallurgy reached a particularly high flourishing among the ancient Caucasian tribes, as evidenced by biblical legends, testimonies of ancient authors and, in particular, the results of archaeological excavations. An important center of metallurgical production north of the Caucasus Range was the Koban region, where a huge number of artistic bronzes, axes and belt buckles decorated with fine ornaments were discovered. The largest center of metallurgy in Transcaucasia was the Tsalka region.
Many metal objects made of copper, bronze, silver and gold were discovered here. All these products indicate great specialization in the field of metallurgy. Casting, forging and soldering were known. Jewelry art has reached a high level of development. They knew how to make various vessels decorated with ornaments from clay. Fabrics were made from wool. Judging by some large and rich burials, a clan aristocracy had already emerged in this era. However, people still lived under the conditions of a tribal system, remnants of which persisted for a very long time in the Caucasus, in particular among the Ossetians and the Svans.
Urartu writing - cuneiform, traditional for the region
Economy of the state of Urartu
In the fertile valley of the Araks River and in the river valleys located south of it, in the middle of the second millennium BC. the Urartian people stood out. In the 13th century BC, when Assyria first encountered the tribes of Urartu, a number of tribal alliances existed in the country of lakes and rivers located north of Mesopotamia. One of these large and powerful tribal unions was the union of the Diaukh tribes, which occupied a vast territory northwest of Lake Van in the upper reaches of the Euphrates and further to the north and northeast towards the Black Sea.
The Assyrian kings in all their inscriptions mention the struggle with “kings”, who, obviously, were only tribal leaders. The Urartian union of tribes, which was first called “Uruatri” and then “Nairi”, only in the 9th century. BC. turns into a fairly strong state - the state of Urartu.
Since ancient times, the Urartian tribes have been engaged in cattle breeding, and this cattle breeding for a long time had a very primitive nomadic character. Cattle were driven to mountain pastures for the summer, and returned to the valleys and lowlands for the winter. The main types of domestic animals were cow, sheep and pig, as indicated by the bones of these animals found during excavations on the southern shore of Lake Sevan. The corresponding Assyrian ideograms convey the names of these animals in the Urartian wedge-shaped inscriptions.
Historical sources indicate the very great importance of cattle breeding among the Urartians. The Balavat Gate of Shalmaneser III depicts the theft of cattle from the country of Gilzan (near Lake Urmia). The Urartian kings list in their inscriptions a huge number of cattle stolen as booty. Thus, the Urartian king Sarduri II brought 110 thousand heads of cattle and 200 thousand heads of small cattle after his campaign in Transcaucasia. The Assyrian kings stole large quantities of livestock from Urartu. Horse breeding was of particular importance in the Urartian cattle-breeding economy.
In some areas of Urartu, special breeds of riding horses were specially bred. Horses were often harnessed to chariots and used as beasts of burden to transport goods. Images of horsemen and chariots were preserved on some monuments, in particular on a bronze quiver, as well as on the helmets of Sarduri and Argishti, found in the ruins of the Urartian fortress in Karmir Blur (near Yerevan). The Assyrian and Urartian kings often report in their inscriptions the capture of large numbers of horses as spoils of war.
Along with horses, camels and donkeys were also used to transport heavy loads. Camels are mentioned in the inscriptions of the Urartian kings. These animals were used during irrigation work, in particular when filling dams. In the 8th century BC. camels were known throughout the country, but their number was relatively small.
Agriculture was of great importance in the economy of the ancient Urartians. Since ancient times, various types of wheat have been acclimatized on the territory of ancient Armenia. To cultivate the land, they used a heavy plow harnessed to two oxen. The iron coulters of this plow, found in Toprah-Kala, are shaped like hoes. Along with iron sickles, primitive wooden or bone sickles with flint and obsidian inserts were also used. The technology of agricultural tools retained features of deep primitiveness.
However, agriculture was widespread in the country of the Urartians. Assyrian inscriptions often speak of the presence of large reserves of grain in the Urartian fortresses. Excavations of the Karmir Blur hill discovered large quantities of wheat, barley, millet, sesame and wheat flour. Grain and flour were stored in large jugs, the so-called karas, half dug into the ground, in special pantries. In addition, voluminous granaries were discovered in the ruins of Karmir-Blur. It is possible that one of the storerooms excavated in the ruins of the fortress in Arin-berd also served to store grain. Viticulture and winemaking occupied a large place in the agricultural system.
In the northern part of the Karmir-Blur fortress, where there were mainly utility rooms, in 1949-1950. Two large storage rooms for storing wine were found in fairly well-preserved condition. In these storerooms, 152 large vessels (karasa) were discovered, in which about 150 thousand liters of wine were once stored. Finally, in the third storeroom, over a thousand clay jugs for wine were discovered. There is reason to believe that viticulture has reached significant development, as indicated by the seeds of various grape varieties found in the ruins of Karmir-Blura.
The presence of basic types of raw materials on the territory of Urartu - clay, stone, wood and metal - contributed to the significant development of handicraft production. The Urartians achieved great skill in stone processing. Various types of stone were processed using a metal cutter. A unique technical method of artistic stone processing was the inlay of objects made from stone of one type with parts made from stone of a different color and type. The high technique of stone processing is indicated by beads made of semi-precious stones, carefully drilled and well polished. The agricultural economy of the Urartians was largely based on artificial irrigation. Many inscriptions of the Urartian kings describe the construction of canals.
Numerous irrigation structures, canals and reservoirs have survived to this day. Especially many canals have been preserved in the area of Lakes Van, where the center of the state was located. Some of them are reinforced with powerful cyclopean masonry. Of particular importance was the large canal built by King Menua and later nicknamed the “Shamiram Canal”, named after the legendary Assyrian queen. This canal served to supply water to the Urartian capital Tushpa, located on the shores of Lake Van. The canal water was distributed through ditches to nearby fields and used for their irrigation. Water mills were driven by canals.
An Urartian millstone from a water mill is kept in Tbilisi in the Georgian Museum. Along with grain farming, horticulture and viticulture reached a high level of development. Vineyards were planted on artificial terraces that were built on the slopes of the mountains.
Metallurgy was of great importance in the development of handicraft production. Transcaucasia, together with Northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, forms one of the oldest regions of highly developed metallurgy, where iron appeared especially early and became very widespread. In particular, metallurgy flourished in the country of Urartu. Excavations at Toprah-Kala and Karmir-Blur showed that the Urartians used mainly iron to make tools and weapons. However, the Urartians had lead and tin at their disposal and knew how to produce a bronze alloy and make various objects from bronze. The high development of metallurgical technology is indicated by artistic figured legs and sculptural parts of the throne, cast from bronze according to a wax model.
The inscription of the Assyrian king, describing the booty taken during the capture of the Urartian city of Musasir, lists a huge number of various metal objects. Gold and silver were used to make luxury items. The ancient Urartians were skilled builders. They built the vault of the building either from mud brick or from large stone slabs or blocks (Cyclopean megalithic masonry).
Fortresses were built especially carefully, the walls of which in their lower part, made of large stone blocks, reached 1 m in thickness. Large fortifications were located on the shore of Lake Van, where the Urartian capital Tushpa was located. Excavations discovered here the walls of the fortress, which in some places reached a height of up to 20 m. In Toprah-Kale, the foundation of a temple made of large blocks of limestone was excavated.
The walls of the ceremonial premises were lined with ornamented marble friezes, as indicated by the finds of I. A. Orbeli in Toprah-Kale. A number of fortresses from the Urartian period were also discovered on the territory of Soviet Armenia. Among them, a fortress excavated on the Karmir-Blur hill, near Yerevan, stands out. This fortress apparently protected the borders of the Urartian state from the north. An examination of the remains of the fortress on the Arin-berd hill showed that the lower part of the walls, up to 2-3 m in height, was made of hewn slabs of basalt and tuff.
The lack of documents does not allow us to talk in detail about the economic life and social structure of the ancient Urartians. There is no doubt that the development of agriculture and various crafts caused the division of labor, specialization in production, the emergence of surplus products and contributed to the emergence of ancient forms of trade. The development of trade among the Urartians is evidenced by some well-preserved remains of roads built in the mountains.
As in other ancient Eastern countries, in Urartu the main form of labor exploitation was primitive slavery. The state power owned a large amount of land, which was under the direct control of the king himself. Urartian inscriptions often report that when constructing cities and fortresses, the kings ordered large irrigation works to be carried out immediately, canals and reservoirs to be built in order to transform apparently previously empty lands into agricultural areas, moreover, to plant gardens and vineyards here.
Large granaries and wine cellars were built in the fortresses, the remains of which were discovered during excavations at Karmir-Blura. Obviously, large royal estates were located near these fortified cities. In the inscriptions, some areas are directly designated as “belonging” to the king. Along with the large royal estates, there were also large temple estates. Particularly large wealth was concentrated in the temple of the god Khald in the city of Musasir. This temple may have owned a large amount of land and livestock.
Expansion of the stateFinally, there is reason to believe that a slave-owning aristocracy was formed in Urartu, which included, judging by Assyrian inscriptions, “nobles”, “advisers”, “regional rulers” and “military leaders”. The bulk of the population were free labor masses of community members and slaves. The inscriptions of the Urartian kings speak of the capture of a large number of captives, “boys and youths”, enslaved, as well as the deportation into slavery in Urartu of a large number of people, in particular women, in some cases, perhaps the population of entire regions occupied by the Urartian troops.
Captives captured during the conquest of neighboring countries were usually enslaved. Excavations of an Urartian city near Yerevan showed that the inhabitants of the city did not have their own household and, obviously, received in-kind allowances from the state. There is every reason to assume, as B.B. Piotrovsky does, that the inhabitants of the city included officials, warriors and artisans, as well as numerous slaves who cultivated state lands located around the city.
The growth of productive forces led to a significant development of trade both within the country and with neighboring countries. The country of Urartu, located between the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Northern Mesopotamia and Northwestern Iran, could serve as an intermediary in trade that united the countries of the northern part of Western Asia. Excavations in Transcaucasia and even in the North Caucasus have revealed a number of objects of Central Asian origin, which, apparently, were brought here by Urartian traders, colonists or warriors.
Bronze bracelets were found in Transcaucasian burial grounds, the weight of which is related to the main measure of weight in Western Asia - the mine. Gold objects of Western Asian origin were discovered in the burial grounds of Nagorno-Karabakh. An agate bead with a wedge-shaped inscription containing the name of the Assyrian king Adad-Nirari was found in the Khojaly burial ground. Finally, Egyptian inscriptions say that wood for chariots came from Naharina, with one surviving Egyptian chariot made from wood brought from Urartu.
Conquests of the kings of Urartu
The development of the economy of the state of Urartu required a constant influx of new slaves. The Urartian kings wage stubborn wars with neighboring countries in order to capture booty and slaves. These wars led to an inevitable clash between Urartu and Assyria, which dominated the northern part of Western Asia and claimed to seize all trade and all resources in these mountainous countries.
The first known campaigns against the “country of Uruatri” were undertaken by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I in the 13th century BC. From this time on, the Assyrian kings made frequent campaigns against Urartu. They do not limit themselves to seizing rich booty, stealing livestock and captives, and devastating the country. They impose taxes on the defeated and force them to make “offerings.” Listing the conquered countries in their title cards, the Assyrian kings sometimes called themselves not only “the king of the country of Shubari,” but also “the king of all the countries of Nairi.”
In the 9th century. BC. A fairly strong Urartian state is formed, which poses a real threat to Assyrian trade and the northern borders of the Assyrian state. Shalmaneser III(859-825 BC) had to wage a long and stubborn struggle with the Urartians, and Assyrian troops repeatedly penetrated their country. Shalmaneser III describes his victories over the Urartians in his chronicle.
Vivid pictures of these campaigns, images of the storming of Urartian fortresses, the removal of numerous captives and the theft of captured livestock were preserved on the bronze lining of the Balavat Gate and on the black obelisk, which date specifically to this time. As a result of these campaigns, the Assyrian troops managed to penetrate all the way to the northern part of the country of Urartu, to the sources of the Euphrates and Araxes rivers, break through to lakes Van and Urmia and devastate large areas.
However, the Assyrians failed to completely defeat the country of Urartu. In continuous battles with the Assyrians, the state of Urartu strengthened, around which a number of tribes united. The Urartian king Sarduri I managed to repel the Assyrian troops. Under him, an impregnable fortress was built at the Van Rock. Sarduri I, who headed the state of Urartu, proudly calls himself “the great king, the mighty king, the king of the universe, the king of the country of Nairi, the king of kings.” The Urartian kings Ipshuina and Menua, who ruled at the end of the 9th century. and at the beginning of the 8th century, they laid the foundations for the future power of the Urartian kingdom.
In the first half of the 8th century. BC. Urartu under the kings Argishti and Sarduri II reaches its highest peak. The Urartian kings wage a number of successful wars, conquer large areas of Transcaucasia, seize territories along the middle reaches of the Euphrates and advance into the region of Syria. The Urartian kings waged a particularly stubborn struggle against the Mana tribal union, which was located in the area of Lake Urmia. The kings of Urartu, after long wars, manage to advance north of Lake Urmia, conquer part of the country of Mana and even build fortresses there to house their garrisons. Menua reports in his inscription about the conquest of the country of Mana and the construction of a fortress in the conquered country.
The chronicles of Argishti I and Sarduri II speak of frequent campaigns in the country of Mana, the capture of numerous captives there and the theft of livestock. Thus, Urartu becomes not only a rival of Assyria in the northern part of Western Asia, but for some time even becomes the main force here, pushing Assyria into second place. The Urartian king Argishti (781-760 BC) emerges victorious from the fight against Assyria, defeating the Assyrian king Ashurdan. Argishti expands the northern borders of the Urartian kingdom, conquers the country of Etiuni, located in Transcaucasia, and moves the center of the state north through the Araks in Transcaucasia, to the city of Argishtikhinili, which was located near the modern village of Armavir.
The kings of Ipshuin and Menua wage successful wars with neighboring tribes and expand the borders of the state. They firmly secured the territory between lakes Van and Urmia, conquered areas adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Urmia, and carried out aggressive campaigns to the north, into the plain of the Araks River. Menua (810-781 BC) reports in his inscriptions about the conquest of the country of Urmia and the capture of the city of Shashiluni, located east of the Euphrates. Urartian kings built cities, fortresses, temples, and laid canals. This extensive construction reflects the beginning of the prosperity of the country of Urartu.
Ipshuina built a temple 7 km from Van, as stated in the inscriptions on the bases of the columns kept in the Georgian Museum. Menua built a number of fortifications on the approaches to the capital of the state Tushpa, completed the construction of the walls of the Van fortress, built powerful fortifications in the northern part of the country and built the famous canal that supplied the capital with drinking water. An inscription was found 10 km from Van, stored in the Georgian Museum, which mentions the construction of the palace by King Menua, the son of Ipshuina.
Sarduri II (760-730 BC) continued the victorious campaigns of his father Argishti. He reports in some detail about his campaigns, which he carried out over the course of eight years, in his chronicle, the text of which was found in Van and published in 1922. Judging by this interesting chronicle, Sarduri II strengthened his power in the Urmiy region, made campaigns in the country Erakh, located northwest of Lake Sevan, went to war in Transcaucasia and even in Northern Syria and thus widely expanded the borders of the Urartian kingdom.
This time was the heyday of not only the political, but also the economic power of the country of Urartu. Sarduri II reports in his inscription about the conquest of rich agricultural, well-plowed areas, the capture of a huge number of livestock, the delivery of valuable metals, gold, silver, lead and bronze, and finally, the capture of a large number of captives who were enslaved. Other inscriptions from the same king tell of the construction activities of Sarduri; about the restoration of a temple, apparently near Armavir, about the construction of a water supply system in the same area and about the restoration of the palace. All this clearly indicates that in this era the Urartian culture began to penetrate into the Araks valley, conquered by the Urartian kings.
Judging by the inscription found on the Arin-berd hill (near Yerevan), Argishti I built a “powerful fortress” here, calling it “the city of Irpuni”. As an archaeological survey showed, the fortress occupied an area of about 6 hectares. It is possible that this fortress had not only military, but also administrative significance. In the ruins of the fortress, large water pipes made of tuff were discovered, and in one of the rooms - the remains of collapsed, once richly ornamented and brightly colored wall paintings. There are some reasons to believe that urban buildings were located around the fortress.
The next Urartian king, Ruse I (730-714 BC) had to wage a stubborn struggle to restore the former power of the Urartian kingdom and for the complete conquest of the regions of Transcaucasia. Therefore, Rusa I builds a number of fortresses in the Nor-Bayazet region. At the same time, Rusa suppressed the rebellion within the country, which was raised by the governors of the border regions, who were trying to form independent principalities, taking advantage of the weakening of the Urartian state. Obviously, in connection with this, the old administrative centers of the Urartians in Transcaucasia, such as Argishtikhinili, were replaced by new ones.
Somewhat later, in the 7th century. BC, Teishebaini became a major administrative center of the Urartians in Transcaucasia, the ruins of which were discovered on Karmir-Blur, near Yerevan. However, the strengthened Urartian state posed a great threat even to powerful Assyria. The Urartian kings formed large coalitions, which included states and tribal unions of Transcaucasia, Northern Syria and the eastern part of Asia Minor.
In the Urartians and other northern peoples, the Assyrians encountered dangerous rivals who threatened their trade routes and the borders of their state. Therefore, in the middle of the 8th century. BC e. Assyria mobilizes its forces against the Urartian kingdom and its allies. Tiglath-pileser III makes two campaigns in Urartu and inflicts serious defeats on the Urartian troops.
At the end of the 8th century. BC. Assyria is growing stronger again. Sargon II in 714 BC. manages to make a successful campaign against Urartu and defeat the troops of Rus. However, the Assyrians were unable to completely suppress the Urartian kingdom. The Urartian people are waging a courageous struggle against the Assyrian conquerors.
Despite the fact that Sargon II defeated the Urartian troops, devastated the entire country, captured and plundered the rich Urartian city of Musasir, the state of Urartu still retained its independence. Moreover, the resistance of the Urartians was perhaps one of the reasons for the weakening of Assyria, which in 605 fell under the blows of the united enemies of the Assyrian kingdom. Urartu retained its independence even after the fall of Assyria. Only in the VI century. BC. Urartu loses its independence and collapses under the blows and.
Culture of Urartu
The Urartian culture has still been little studied, but it is now absolutely clear that the Urartians created a high culture, closely connected with the cultural creativity of other peoples of Western Asia, and thereby made a valuable contribution to the treasury of world culture. Many features of the Urartian culture are highly original.
The Urartians had their own ancient hieroglyphic writing, some pictorial signs of which were found on individual objects and on one clay tablet. Their architecture and metallurgy reached high perfection. From an artistic point of view, the image of the Musasir temple preserved on the walls of Sargon’s palace is of particular interest. This temple was built in the 9th-8th centuries. BC. on a high platform.
With its gable roof, pediment and six columns adorning the façade, it vividly resembles ancient Greek buildings, perhaps being their Central Asian prototype. The use of columns in architecture is indicated by preserved bases, some of which are kept in the Georgian Museum. The high development of metallurgy is reflected in a number of artistic bronze products.
Among them, sculptural parts of luxurious thrones stand out, reproducing the figures of winged bulls with a human face. These elegantly crafted objects were cast from bronze using a wax model, additionally modeled using embossing and covered with the finest gold leaf, which plastically reproduced all the ornamental details of the bronze base. Faces made of white stone, inlaid eyes and eyebrows, and wing indentations decorated with red paste created a vibrant colorful effect. This kind of expressive works of Urartian metallurgical sculpture occupied a very special place in the art of ancient Eastern peoples.
Some idea of Urartian painting is given by the remains of wall paintings discovered on the Arin-berd hill in the ruins of a fortress built in the 8th century. BC e. Judging by these fragments, an original multicolored frieze up to 1 m high adorned the walls of the ancient hall. This frieze consisted of images of running goats, the sacred tree of life, near which people stood praying, bulls, winged disks, and finally, floral and geometric patterns. These artistic subjects are typical of ancient Eastern art, but at the same time they are distinguished by some originality, characteristic of the entire Urartian culture.
The art of Urartu was reminiscent of Assyrian examples, but their mosaics and frescoes looked more “alive” compared to their southern neighbor
The Urartians were able to use the high achievements of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization. They borrowed cuneiform from the Assyrians, but simplified and somewhat improved it. Metallurgy and fine art of the Urartians developed in close connection with the technology of metal production and artistic creativity of the Assyrians and Hittites. Artistic images of winged bulls were preserved in the art of a number of peoples of Western Asia: the Assyrians, Hittites and Mitannians.
Urartu influenced the development of the culture of neighboring peoples, in particular the Assyrians. Urartian culture had an undoubted influence on the development of Assyrian metallurgy and Assyrian art. The Urartians had a particularly strong cultural influence on the development of the neighboring peoples of Transcaucasia. On the territory of Armenia there are preserved ruins of fortresses built under the influence of Urartian architecture. The Urartian language, religion and mythology, preserving many features of the Assyro-Babylonian culture, had a great influence on the development of the culture of the ancient Armenian people.
The Urartian religion went all the way from ancient fetishism and the cult of nature to the cult of the gods - the patrons of the king and the state. The Urartians idolized trees and especially mountains. One of the epithets of the god Khald was “Mount Khald.” In the list of Urartian gods ( Mher Kapusi) the gate of Hald and the gods of the gate of Hald are mentioned. Obviously, this refers to niches carved into the rocks, through which, according to the religious views of the Urartians, the deity who lived in the mountain emerged from the sacred rock. The cult of the sacred tree was also widespread in the country of Urartu.
On various objects of authority, on seal impressions, scenes of worship of the sacred tree were preserved, and this ritual was sometimes performed by the king himself. It is characteristic to note that near the image of the sacred tree, images of sacred stone pillars, as well as a griffin, have been preserved. Along with the cult of the god of Mount Khalda in Urartu, there was also a cult of the goddess of nature and fertility, who was considered the patroness of animals and plants. A prominent place in the Urartian pantheon was occupied by the god of thunder and storm Teisheba and the sun god Ard.
Cimmerians - the first nomadic conquerors
URARTU- a powerful slave state of the Ancient world in the 9th–6th centuries. BC. It was located on the territory of the Armenian Highlands, in the area of lakes Van (modern Turkey), Urmia (northwest Iran), Gokcha (Sevan), including the Araks River basin and up to the Kura River in the north.
The Armenian highlands were inhabited by the Urartian and Nairi tribes, linguistically close to the Hurrians, inhabitants of the ancient state of Mitanni in northern Mesopotamia (mid-2nd millennium BC).
The first Assyrian mentions of Urartu date back to the 10th century. BC. By the middle of the 9th century. BC. The state of Urartu begins to take shape. Ancient inscriptions in Tushpa (modern Van), the capital of Urartu, mention the Urartian king Sarduri I.
OK. 832 BC There are again references to Assyrian raids on Urartu. The Assyrians probably wanted to take control of the trade routes that supplied Mesopotamia with iron from southeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). However, the Assyrian campaigns of 856 and 832 BC. against Urartu were not successful. Therefore, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III in 829 BC. again invades the area of Lake Urmia to suppress the Urartians seeking independence. In all likelihood, the Assyrians were once again driven back, and Sarduri I declared himself “the great king, the strong king, the king of multitudes, the king of Nairi,” thereby challenging the powerful Assyria for dominance in Western Asia. These Assyrian campaigns against Urartu are depicted on the bas-reliefs of the temple gates in the Assyrian city of Imgur Ellil (modern Balawat in northern Iraq).
Having weakened the once powerful Assyrian power by the end of the 9th - beginning of the 8th centuries, the state of Urartu entered its heyday. From this time on, the expansion of the Urartian kings Ishpuini and Menua began. Having established themselves in the territories around lakes Van and Urmia, the Urartians made a series of successful campaigns in the country of Diauhi (the territory of modern eastern Turkey in the region of Kars and Erzurum) and Southern Transcaucasia (modern Armenia and part of southern Georgia). The Menuakhinili fortress was built in the Ararat valley as an outpost for the upcoming expansion of the Urartians deep into Transcaucasia.
Menua's successor, his son Argishti I, continued his father's aggressive policy. He founded the well-fortified fortresses of Erebuni (outskirts of Yerevan) and Argishtikhinili (later Armavir) on the left bank of the Araks. Argishti I defeated the country of Diauhi and came close to the “country of Kulha” (Colchis). The campaigns of Argishti I were accompanied by the capture of a large number of slaves and livestock. The so-called story tells us about these events. “Khorkhor Chronicle”, carved on the steep slopes of the Van rock in Tushpa.
In 764–735 BC. Sarduri II, son of Argishti I, reigns on the Urartian throne. The advanced army of the Urartians, created on the model of the Assyrian (large round shields, pointed helmets made of bronze, protective plate armor, etc.), made a number of successful campaigns in northern Transcaucasia, Manu (the country of the Maneans on the territory of modern South Azerbaijan in Iran) and Kumahu (Commagenu - a Turkish enclave of Kurdistan). Sarduri II entered into a number of alliances with the Syrians and began to threaten the Assyrian state from the west.
The inevitable battle between Urartu and Assyria began after the accession of Tiglath-pileser III to the Assyrian throne, which put an end to the internecine wars and unrest within the Assyrian state itself. OK. 740 BC Tiglath-Pileser III sent his army to Qumakha, and in the battle of Kishtan and Khalpa inflicted a serious defeat on the united allied army of the Urartians and Syrians. Sarduri II was forced to retreat beyond the Euphrates. The Assyrians drove the Urartians out of Northern Mesopotamia and Northern Syria. In all likelihood, Tiglath-pileser III c. 735 BC besieged the Urartian capital Tushpa, but the Assyrians were unable to capture the citadel on the Van Rock.
After the death of Sarduri II (30s of the 8th century BC), Rusa I reigned in Urartu, who carried out a number of reforms to strengthen the central government and erected new fortresses (on the shores of Lake Sevan, etc.).
At this time, nomadic Cimmerian tribes from Transcaucasia invade Urartu. Rusa I, at the cost of huge losses, was able to resist the devastating raids of the Cimmerians and successfully bring Urartu out of this crisis.
After this, a clash with Assyria again becomes inevitable. OK. 715 BC Assyrian ruler Sargon II moved to Lake Urmia. In the general battle of Uaush (near Lake Urmia), the Assyrians completely defeated the army of Rus I and his allies. The king of Urartu fled to Tushpa, where he committed suicide. After this, the Assyrians brutally plundered and devastated Urartu.
At the beginning of the 7th century. BC. The Urartian king Rusa II tried to restore the relative power of Urartu. He built a number of fortresses (including Teishebaini in the Ararat Valley). In alliance with the Cimmerian tribes, Rusa II made a series of campaigns in Phrygia. Relations between Urartu and Assyria generally remained peaceful.
In the second half of VII BC. AD Scythian tribes appear near the northern Transcaucasian borders of Urartu, defeating and absorbing the Cimmerians. The mortal danger of a Scythian invasion loomed over the once powerful state of Urartu. Around 630 BC King of Urartu Sarduri III turns to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal for help ( cm. ASSHURBANAPAL) for help, calling himself no longer “brother” as before, but “son,” thereby recognizing the supremacy of Assyria. However, Assyria itself was soon defeated by the rise of the Median kingdom, which existed in the northwestern regions of the Iranian plateau. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, ca. 609 BC Median troops invaded Urartu and occupied Tushpa. By 590 BC the state of Urartu apparently completely lost its independence.
Urartu was rather a state union of various ethnic tribes and peoples. Herodotus 5th century BC. talks about the four main ethnic groups of the population of Urartu - the Alarodis (the Urartians themselves), the Armenians (Armenians), the Matiens (related to the Hurrians) and the Saspeirs (corresponding to the Kartvelian tribes). Undoubtedly, the state of Urartu played a huge role in the formation and development of the peoples of the Armenian Highlands and Transcaucasia. It can be assumed that the end of the history of Urartu is the beginning of the history of the Armenian and Kartvelian (East Georgian) peoples.